Side Story: Myth 3

It’s been so long!

How have you been?

I’ve been feeling like my heart is pounding as of late. The prophecy that I once made so very, very long ago for my friend as she was suffering has finally come true.

I still don’t know if I did the right thing back then. Perhaps the future would have changed completely if I hadn’t made that prophecy. Perhaps all would have flowed like it was supposed to.

But I made the prophecy, and my prophecy made the future flow toward what I had prophesized. After all, in the future that I saw, they looked much happier then when they had been suffering back when I made the prophecy.

I wonder what will happen now?

I’m afraid, but I’m also looking forward to it. All I can do is pray that their future will be filled with happiness.

Oh, we ended off last time after I showed Roberstein the black boy, right? Let me tell you what happened next…

~~*~~

My friend Ro saw the black boy submerged inside the darkness and frowned.

“There were still gods left?”

Ro pondered for a moment before she jumped down into the opening I had created. The boy was frightened when Ro jumped down in front of him and stepped back. Ro looked down at the small boy who was no taller than her waist. The boy stared blankly back up at her.

“How long have you been here?”

Vaguely, the boy answered,

“I don’t know.”

It looked like the boy hadn’t been counting time while he was inside the darkness. To be honest, I didn’t know either. So much time had passed since the Holy Age had begun. The sun and the moon had danced dozens, hundreds, thousands of times in the sky —how was anyone supposed to count all that? The only thing that was certain was that he had lived a very long time.

The boy peered at Ro and asked,

“Who, are you?”

“I am Roberstein, the God of Judgment.”

Normally, everyone understood at once and trembled in fear when she proclaimed herself as thus. She was the first god, and she was the Arbiter who wielded the terrifying power of Judgment. But the boy simply looked excited as he stared back at her.

“Judgment? Roberstein? I don’t know. You were floating in the sky. The sun? The sun fell down?”

“I am not the sun.”

“Then, the light?”

“I’m not the light, either.”

“But you’re shining.”

All gods were naturally gifted with words. The boy was no different. But he fumbled over his words as if he could not speak them well. He could not complete his sentences, and he just barely managed to speak by stringing his broken words together.

Oh, but I understood. The boy never had anyone to talk to while he was inside Pandemonium. He had not conversed for such a long time —no, this was his first time conversing at all, and his speech had grown dull.

The tips of my roots began growing numb for some reason. I rustled my leaves gently in apology. Ro didn’t look like she was in a great mood either.

“Let me take you outside.”

Ro grabbed the boy by the arm, but she flinched and let go of him. The boy tilted his head to the side because he couldn’t understand why she had done that. Ro continued,

“Why is your body so cold?”

“Not enough divine power. Made it myself.”

“…….”

Ro took the boy again by his shoulders. He opened his eyes wide in surprise as if he had felt something from her. Then, his eyebrows wriggled as he felt the incomplete power lingering around them.

The boy was unable to take his eyes off Ro as he squirmed under the strange feeling that was coming from his shoulders. I felt wonder and delight coming from him.

“What a curious body. And you carry such a strange aura with you. To think that you created a body without help from the spirits —you must have pioneered a new technique while you were here.”

“A new technique?”

“Let go outside for now.”

“Oh.”

Ro picked the boy up and tucked him under her arm. Then, she climbed up my roots and jumped out. The boy looked back at the darkness, which was growing farther away, with a strange light in his eyes as he dangled from her arm. How must it have felt to say goodbye to the place he had lived in for nearly an eternity?

Ro put the boy back down when they had escaped Pandemonium.

“Oh…….”

The boy dropped his jaw as he took in the green world for the first time in his life. It was no wonder he was so surprised. He had never known anything but the darkness, so the lush expanse probably looked like a miracle to him.

Ah, I felt so sorry. I had neglected the child because I had thought he would die quickly. I had never thought that he would survive and live such a long time all alone. I was the being who pulled the gods into the world, and a surge of responsibility flooded over me and upturned my heart. My branches shivered in the guilt I felt toward the boy.

But the boy was acting strange.

“I hate it. This place, I hate it.”

The boy apparently didn’t want to be here. But why not? I was bewildered. Paradise was covered in colorful lights and the world was overflowing with life —it was beautiful. The world should have been a miracle to the boy who had lived with nothing but the darkness, but he was spitting out his loathing for it for some reason.

Then, the boy continued,

“Wanna go back, place I was before. I’m going back.”

He lowered himself down into the still-open hole. Ro was startled and tried to grab him to keep him from falling, but it had been an unnecessary action on her part. He flew and floated down safely near my roots where he had been before.

“He’s mimicking powers…… How can he do that?”

Ro muttered with a stiff look on her face as she followed the boy back down. The boy was huddled over.

“You want to stay here? But why?”

“Outside is horrible.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Won’t go out. Never.”

Ro tried to drag him outside, but the boy was stubborn.

They were at a standstill for several days. And the boy eventually emerged as the victor. Ro gave up and sat down next to him.

“I suppose it can’t be helped if you don’t want to go.”

“Why are you sitting here? You live outside.”

The boy’s speech had improved greatly as he conversed with Ro. He was a very quick study.

Ro looked back at the curios boy and said,

“I have nothing to do outside. Quarrelling with you was the busiest I’ve been in a long while. It was fun.”

“Fun?”

“Yes. That’s why I want to visit you often. Or do you not like that?”

The boy opened his eyes wide as his face flushed crimson. He shook his head vigorously in a joy he could not contain.

“I like you.”

Ro grinned when she heard the boy’s response.

“I see.”

I was surprised. Ro had always been apathetic when she was talking to the other gods —anyone other than the spirits or myself. She was powerful, and the other gods were wary of her. Ro killed off her emotions and treated everyone impartially because it was obvious that the gods would grow nervous if she acted emotionally. She did not regard anyone as precious to her.

Ro was always lonely, and she had lived this long stretch of time as though she were dead. But she showed the boy her emotions clearly.

Why was that?

I think I know. It was because the boy saw her not as the strongest god but simply as Roberstein.

Ro’s time began overflowing with vitality once she had met the boy.

Ro shared her divine power with the boy because he could not make any of his own. She probably disliked how timid he was because he was lacking in life. The boy was awkward with how his heart was brimming with warm life for the first time ever.

“Thank you for giving me life.”

He was making a complicated face for some reason, but his expression soon turned to joy as he felt the warm life coursing through his body.

Ro told the boy many stories. She conveyed the world in her stories, and the boy was afraid yet intrigued as he lent her his ear.

Ro began teaching him swordplay once she had finished teaching him about the first half of the Holy Age. The boy loved learning from Ro. And he truly enjoyed the sword as well.

“I like it because it reminds me of you.”

Ro enjoyed teaching him because he was a quick study. He absorbed the things Ro taught him like a cloth soaking up water, and he grew clever and strong. The boy grew taller and more mature as he learned more about the world.

In turn, the boy told Ro about the abilities and new energy he had awakened to during his stay inside Pandemonium. Ro was repulsed by the boy’s energy at first, but she was intrigued by its limitless potential and eventually learned how to use it from him. The boy found great fun in this and redoubled his efforts in teaching her.

“Now that I think about it, what’s your name?”

His introduction was rather late.

“My name?”

All gods had a name because they named themselves at birth. But the boy shook his head and said that he had no name. He continued,

“Do I need one?”

“Of course. It’s the most fundamental way to determine your identity.”

“Is it? Then, you name me.”

“……Me?”

“Yeah. I want you to name me. After all, you’re my identity. You’re my entire world.”

Ro’s breath caught for a moment. The boy ran into her arms as if he was playing cutesy. He was tall enough to come right under chin now. He continued,

“I’d like a name that’s similar to yours. Give me a name. Please?”

“Names are important. You shouldn’t ask someone else to name you so readily.”

“You’re the most important person to me, so it’s only right for you to name me.”

“…….”

She could not refuse him when he was going so far. Ro contemplated for some time before she named the boy ‘Roygen.’ The boy —Roygen— delighted in his name and jumped for joy.

And so, yet another long stretch of time passed.

The friendship between Ro and Roygen grew only deeper. Ro wasn’t lonely anymore because she was spending her time with the boy now. She treasured him because she wasn’t lonely now that he was there. Roygen, too, recklessly poured out his affections to her.

How did I know? I know because I had felt the warm emotions flowing from them as they sat upon my roots.

Roygen returned to his original form —the small, winged lizard— often. He was more comfortable in his lizard form than in the form that the gods favored.

Ro had been surprised when she had first seen his original form, but she pet him and called him adorable once she had grown accustomed to it. Though it did make things difficult for her as he grew larger. Roygen delighted in the fact she found him adorable and flapped around his wings. It was very pleasant to watch.

Then, one day, Roberstein proposed to Roygen once again.

“Let’s go outside, Roygen. It isn’t good for you to stay here all the time. The world is so large, you know? I’m sure you’ll be surprised.”

“……I don’t want to.”

“Can you at least tell me why?”

“I don’t want to tell you. But I’ll at least go out to where Phaemdra is since you’re asking.”

Roygen finally stepped outside of Pandemonium and stood next to me. I shook my branches to welcome him back into the world.

Flutter.

“…….”

The boy looked out at the lush green hill with wavering eyes as he stood beneath the rain of my leaves.  What had he been thinking back then, I wonder?

Then, the two ‘Ro’s’ spent their time by my side. They occasionally went down into the tranquil darkness to talk or rest, but they spent most of their time with me.

Their feelings for each other grew stronger as they spent more time together.

“Ro.”

Roygen waved his hands before Roberstein’s face as she was closing her eyes.

“Are you sleeping?”

Ro was awake, but she did not answer. Then, Roygen pressed his lips to her cheek like he was placing a stamp on something precious to him.

“My blinding sun.”

His words were filled with affection. Ro could feel her emotions stirring quietly inside her heart as she heard him speak.

Ro opened her eyes. Roygen was recklessly displaying his love for her, the fact that he loved her more than anything in the world, from right before her very eyes.

Ro, too, affectionately pulled the boy in without a word. She smiled in delight as she felt his warmth. Roygen was also blushing red as he smiled bashfully.

“I love it. I love it more than anything in the world when you hug me like this. I want to be with you forever. Ro, you’re all I ever need.”

What Ro had been thinking back then, I wonder?

She squeezed the boy in her arms tight.

“I’ll stay with you.”

The boy’s face was entirely crimson as he burrowed deeper into her embrace.

“I love you…….”

“I know.”

“I love you so much.”

“I know.”

“For all eternity…….”

Roberstein embraced Roygen tight as he promised her his eternity. Roygen, too, hugged her back.

The beautiful seed of love had finally sprouted.

~~*~~

Roygen was a strange god in many ways.

One day, Roberstein had asked him what his power was.

“I don’t know either.”

How could he not know?

Powers were unique abilities. A soul naturally determined its power in accordance to its wishes and its life, and that power was imprinted on its fragment. Gods were born with their powers imprinted on their very bodies. Most gods naturally understood how to use their power as soon as they obtained it.

“I —I’ve only been living all this time, but I never had any wishes. Maybe that’s why I don’t have one? Or maybe I don’t have a power because I’m a mutant god who can’t even produce divine power?”

Roygen had laughed as he said that he didn’t need a power since he knew how to draw out life from divine power. He continued,

“My energy is only consumed for a power if I permit it to be. But I don’t have a power, and I don’t plan on letting anyone else consume my energy to use their powers, so it’s an everlasting ability in one sense. I like how infinite it is. It’s endless, just like me.”

He had said this jokingly, but we could not laugh alongside him. This was why we stopped talking about powers altogether.

Then, Roberstein had asked him if he knew the spirits. He replied that he had not met them since he had first summoned them to create his body a very long time ago. But now could create his body with the new ability he had created, and he could also use that ability to create earth, water, fire, and wind to play with, so it made sense that he had no reason to call upon the spirits.

Roberstein had hoped that the pure and honest spirits would be Roygen’s friends. And that was why she had summoned the spirit kings to introduce them to him.

“Blech.”

Roygen retched as soon as he saw them. In turn, the spirits freaked out as soon as they saw him.

[Who is this weird guy? He disgusts me!]

[Is he really alive?]

[Wait, but how did he create his body? Did he copy our powers?]

[He created a body like that after stealing our powers? That’s horrible!]

The spirits were repulsed, and so too was Roygen.

“You guys annoy me more. You feel horrible, so don’t come near me. I’d really like it if you screwed off.”

Roygen had been very irritable.

Ro and I were bewildered. It had been completely outside of our expectations that the spirits would react so negatively to Roygen and that Roygen, who had only been innocent and obedient until then, would display such dark emotions.

I was startled when I absorbed the emotions that Roygen was emitting. It was like he was raging at the spirits, and it was also like he loathed them dreadfully.

Roberstein felt that something was off when Roygen’s agitation wouldn’t subside and lingered, so she sent the spirits away. The boy only just managed to settle down as he clung to her.

“I hate them. Don’t call them anymore.”

“Why do you hate them?”

“Those bastards take away life. It’s nauseating. I don’t want anyone to steal my life from me.”

Roygen was extremely obsessed with life.

We understood why. Generally speaking, low-ranking gods tended to be very fixated on divine power. And Roygen was the lowest of the low-ranking gods who could not produce any divine power at all.

No one had taken any mercy on him, and he had lived a very long time trapped in Pandemonium with only what very little divine power trickled down from my roots.

I felt incredibly guilty for him as I understood him.

Ro grabbed him by the shoulders as she tried to persuade him.

“Roygen, everything in the world needs to consume divine power in order to ride the flow of time. You won’t need to worry about lacking divine power anymore because I’ll give you mine. Why not take this opportunity to switch over to a body created by the spirits?”

“No.”

A shadow fell over his face. He continued,

“You’ve given me plenty of mercy already. I’ll have to receive divine power from you forever.”

“…….”

“I want to do something for you in return for your divine power, but there’s nothing I can give you because you already have everything. I feel like a parasite.”

It looked like Roygen had been feeling ashamed and inferior, though he normally didn’t let it show. Ro had looked alarmed to learn that Roygen had been feeling this way. Roygen continued,

“There’s nothing I can do about receiving your divine power if I want to live. But I don’t want to consume any more than the absolute minimum that I need to. I can create my body myself without having to ask the spirits for help. Isn’t that enough? Do you not like my body?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then it’s fine, right?”

It was only then that Roygen went into Ro’s arms in relief. But it was no longer appropriate to say that he went into her arms. He was just about as large as Ro now, it was better to say that he embraced her.

But that hadn’t been Roygen’s only problem.

“This child is Lebony.”

“Hello.”

One day, Roygen had ventured into the outside world and Roberstein had introduced him to Lebony, whom she had known for a long time. Ro had taken pity on Lebony and shared divine power with her once, and the goddess had followed Ro fervently ever since.

Lebony was not a bad character, so Ro called her over and shared divine power with her periodically. Lebony knew about what was going on in Paradise, so she had also been Ro’s sole conversation partner.

Ro had hoped that Roygen could make friends. But Roygen had been put off by Lebony too.

“I don’t want to meet any other gods.”

He was very repulsed by the world.

I had only realized after many months had passed since Roygen first stepped out into the world.

The soul’s records were where one’s memories and emotions were created and managed. Of course, it was possible to discard them too if you could not bear them. Just like how the gods discarded their evil into Pandemonium.

But once discarded, they would linger as Ideas for all eternity unless their original owner retrieved them or someone else absorbed them and made them wholly theirs.

And Roygen…

Roygen had been eating all the evil the gods had cast away into Pandemonium as he lived there. He had probably been absorbing the evil inside Pandemonium even then.

I only realized this because the evil would stain my roots every now and again if he spent a lot of time outside.

It was painful.

It felt like trash was being thrown into my soul, which had been as a still lake for so long.

Oh, how on earth had Roygen been able to endure this pain?

I see. I was never hurting because he had eaten up all the evil. It was why Paradise had been able to remain good. The evil would have piled up inside Pandemonium if he hadn’t absorbed it, and it would have eventually become supersaturated and the evil would have exploded just as the chaos once had.

It was dreadful just to imagine.

I asked the spirits to convey what I had learned to Ro.

Ro had sat Roygen, who was now larger than her, down before her and questioned him stiffly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“About what?”

“Have you been absorbing everything that the gods cast away?”

Roygen understood what Ro was trying to say because she had taught him about how the world worked.

“Oh, well……you mean the hateful emotions and painful memories and stuff, right? Yeah, I’ve been absorbing them. I was bored because I had nothing to do besides stare up at the moon, and I could make better use of my time by ruminating over them. I could learn more about the world too. And then, they seemed to completely become my memories and emotions, for some reason? They don’t belong to the gods anymore —they belong to me.”

Ro was at a loss for words when Roygen had said this so nonchalantly. I, too, was similarly speechless.

“Have you been absorbing them even after you met me too? And you’ve been learning from them?”

“Yeah. Phaemdra’s nice and you’re pristine, so I didn’t want either of you to come into contact with something so ugly.”

Roygen caressed Ro’s face as if he found her so endearing. They were no longer adult and child. They were two adults —two equals. He continued,

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t see any reason to. It was something I’ve been doing since long before I met you. Is there a problem with that?”

“Are you all right?”

“I’m perfectly fine. I just don’t want to leave this place. The place you call Paradise is so dirty and dreadful. People envy each other, get jealous of each other, and hate each other…….”

Roygen grinned. Then, he continued,

“I know it’s taken me a while to answer, but this is why I don’t want to go out into the world.”

“Roygen, the world isn’t only evil.”

“But everything I’ve seen while I lived inside Pandemonium has been. And, nothing’s changed, you know? So I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

Ro made a decision after she had heard what he had to say.

“Let’s go out to Paradise together, Roygen.”

“Have you been listening to a word I said?”

“I told you earlier. The world isn’t as bad as you think it is. You think that because you’ve only seen the bad parts. I want you to see the good parts too.”

“…….”

“And I don’t want you to keep absorbing such terrible things. So stop doing it. It’s wrong. I was mistaken. Everyone should be responsible for their own thoughts and feelings. Does it make sense to you that they get to be happy after pushing all their evil onto you? I need to go to Paradise and make them stop.”

Ro was remorseful.

“I understand what you’re saying, but I still don’t want to go. I don’t want to change. I’m happy just to keep spending time with you here, just like this. Just ignore the other gods. I’ll just deal with it, since it means that I’ve actually been useful.”

Roygen reached out his hand toward Ro’s face. He continued,

“Can’t we just stay here peacefully, the two of us, just like we always have been?”

He gently caressed Ro’s face. His attitude toward Ro had grown oddly seductive as time passed. It was to the point that even I, a tree, was embarrassed to watch.

“This is my decision as the god who arbitrates the world, and I don’t think this is right. And don’t make something like that your purpose in life.”

Roygen’s expression clouded over. Then what is my purpose? he grumbled before he shook his head clear.

“Do you really think the other gods will see things the same way you do?”

“What do you mean?”

“You might not know because you’re pure, but the gods are cruel and selfish in my memories.”

“…….”

“First things first, they will treat me as something inferior and hold me in contempt once they learn that I am the lowest of the low-ranking gods. Then, they will reject me, just like how they rejected evil, once they learn that I’ve been absorbing all the evil they threw away. And lastly, Paradise has been doing just fine because they were pushing all their evil onto me, so they will hate me when they learn that they can’t do that anymore and the peace disappears. It’s plainly obvious. And I don’t want to be treated like that.”

Ro frowned because she did not understand.

“That won’t happen. It’s thanks to you that Paradise is doing so well in the first place. You played a role no different from mine —the Arbiter. It’s only right for them to be grateful to you, just like how they revere me.”

“You’re so pure…….”

Ro pulled Roygen in by the face with both hands.

Smooch.

Her lips pressed against his. Roygen’s cheeks immediately flushed bright red. Then, Ro took her hands off Roygen’s face and grabbed my roots as she earnestly said,

“I will change their minds without fail even if that happens. I promise that I’ll stay by your side no matter what. I promise I’ll protect you. So please trust me and follow my lead. Our friend here will be the token of our promise. You’ll do that for us, right, Phaemdra?”

I shook my branches vigorously to show my consent. Like Roberstein, I too wished that Roygen would be loved by Paradise for all the pain he’d suffered in Pandemonium. He had every right to be loved.

“…….”

Suddenly, Roygen reached out for Ro. He wrapped his arms tightly around her.

And wow. They were kissing so passionately.

I had seen all sorts of good and bad things about the gods in my long life, but it still embarrassed me to watch them acting like that. I covered my roots with my branches and leaves in my embarrassment.

But I was happy. Their love for each other was transferred to me and made me warm.

“Sigh…….”

They spent a long time kissing before Roygen bit at Ro’s collar as her breathing grew ragged. He became unable to hold back his overflowing heart and confessed,

“I love you.”

“I know.”

“Do you love me too?”

Ro pulled him in as she answered his stubborn question. Her face was flushed crimson.

“I do. What else would this be if not love?”

“I love you so much.”

Roygen’s body burned up. He held Ro tighter against him in his joy. Then, he said,

“All right. I’ll go to Paradise since you want me to. You want to show me the good in the world because you love me, so it would be a shame if I didn’t go. But you have to keep your promise. You said that you’ll stay with me no matter what. That you’ll protect me.”

“I know.”

Ro smiled.

I was happy because they were happy. Perhaps that was why flowers had begun blossoming from my branches. I sincerely wanted to bless them with a future filled with bliss.

Their love had blossomed like a flower.

But that was also when it had begun to wilt.

Just like I had foretold, the time that had paused for Paradise began flowing toward the End once more.

Roygen eventually went out into Paradise at Ro’s coaxing.

He ventured into Paradise and personally met with the other gods for the first time ever. The gods of Paradise learned about his existence after Ro formally introduced him to them.

And then things had happened exactly as Roygen had predicted they would.

“A low-ranking god from Pandemonium?”

“So you mean to say that he came from the place where we throw away our evil?”

“According to what you said, Lady Roberstein, that god you brought with you has been absorbing all of our evil.”

“He can’t produce any divine power at all?”

“I hear that he was the very last god to be born from chaos, with only dead particles in his heart.”

The gods were forced to endure their own evil once throwing it away had become forbidden. It was only natural that they found this difficult, as they had grown accustomed to experiencing only good emotions.

“All because of that bastard…….”

“He should’ve just stayed locked up in Pandemonium —why did he have to crawl his way out here for no reason……?”

Naturally, ever so naturally, the gods shunned, disliked, hated, disdained, and loathed Roygen for disturbing peace inside Paradise.

They insulted Roygen and called him a Demon, they belittled his energy and called it demonic power, and they called his special ability magic and held it in contempt.

They cursed and spat at Roygen whenever they crossed paths with him. They whispered behind his back and called him an insect who parasitized on the great Lady Roberstein because he couldn’t survive on his own.

The world was so awful and selfish beyond Ro’s or my comprehension.

Ro strictly regulated the gods so they couldn’t act that way, and she punished them severely if their actions went too far. She tried so hard to change their impression of Roygen, but that only made them hate him more.

The gods grumbled to Ro. They complained loudly as they asked why she, who had been impartial to all until now, was suddenly giving Roygen special treatment.

“See? It’s just as I predicted it would be. This world is really fun. And it’s really selfish.”

Roygen’s rage grew stronger as he made more contact with Paradise.

“And that’s why……they threw away all the bad things to the place where I was living just so they could laugh merrily among themselves.

“What right do they have to insult me?

“Just what did I do wrong?

“Their entitlement is astounding. Is it my fault that I can’t produce divine power? Are they able to produce divine power because they did something good to deserve it? No —they were just lucky to be born that way, no?”

The gods hated Roygen, and Roygen despised the gods.

Another thing we couldn’t predict was that Roygen had begun coveting the gods’ life and started showing bloodlust against them.

His instincts and the gods’ evil that he had absorbed, which he kept asleep whenever he was alone together with Ro, woke up whenever he encountered the other gods.

“I’m hungry.

“I want more and more divine power.

“There’s no point in keeping that bastard alive. The divine power he has is wasted on him. I can find better use for it. Can’t I kill him and take his life, Ro?

“I really hate that bastard. I can see him clearly in my memories. I guess someone must’ve hated him a lot.

“I want to kill her. She would’ve been dead already if the god who originally owned this bloodlust hadn’t thrown it away.

“That asshole insulted me. It made me feel horrible.”

The gods’ karma flooded Roygen. His mood fluctuated sharply dozens of times every day.

“Can I kill them? Hmm?”

“Don’t be like this, Roygen. Be patient. They will come to understand you one day. They will accept you, and they will thank you. You are a god who deserves their gratitude.”

Ro pleaded with him. And that’s why he endured it. He waited only for the ‘good parts’ of Paradise that Ro had promised to show him. He held himself back so that Ro, the Arbiter who had brought him out into Paradise, wouldn’t lose face.

Roygen only grew more obsessed with Ro as time passed. He was terrified that Ro might grow to hate him too as the other gods continued hating on him.

“You’ll love me forever, right?”

Ro soothed him and hugged him like she always did.

She accepted his kisses when Roygen kissed her, and she let him do it when he took off her clothes…….

She accepted him when he wanted to have relations. She accepted everything that he was in her sincere love for him. And she suffered from the restless pleasure Roygen gave her.

All because she loved him.

Ro’s love and affection for him only grew larger as the other gods continued to persecute him. But the gods’ inability to understand him made her feel guilty, ashamed, and sorrowful.

And so, a long time had passed.

The gods lived forever.

And change was slow in eternity.

The gods were only ever wintry to Roygen.

And Roygen’s patience was wearing thin.

Eventually, Ro came to a conclusion. She would use her power of Judgment to remove the evil from inside Roygen. She had thought that it would get rid of the reason why the gods hated him.

“Why are you removing it?”

Roygen was enraged and he shook off Ro as she grabbed his arm. He continued,

“You might see evil as something bad, but I accepted it and it’s my life. It’s my knowledge, and it’s a part of me. It’s my one and only purpose! I never did anything wrong. They’re the ones who did wrong, so why…?”

“Roygen, please.”

“……Fine. If that’s what you want.”

Ultimately, Roygen had consented.

But Ro was unable to remove the evil.

The Balance had rejected Ro’s power.

There was only one circumstance in which the Balance rejected her power —when it was necessary to maintain the equilibrium of the world. When it was impossible to maintain equilibrium if something was removed, or equilibrium could not be established again no matter what else she tried to support it with.

In other words, it was impossible to remove the evil that Roygen carried.

But it made sense.

Paradise had only been able to last so peacefully for so long because Roygen had shouldered all its evil alone. Ro would need to sacrifice all the time that had passed if she wanted to remove his evil.

And time was the world’s providence, which none could dare touch. Even the slightest interference with time required a hefty price. That was why it was so incredibly arduous for me to see into the future.

The only equilibrium permitted by the Balance was Roygen’s death.

The evil would vanish if he died. It was very simple.

But Ro could never do that.

Ro suggested that Roygen threw away the emotions too, but Roygen had said that he couldn’t do that. He sneered at her as he said,

“You don’t know just how much evil I’ve absorbed. Paradise will be filled to the brim with evil if I throw it all out, you know? And then I’ll just be cursed at again. Even though it was theirs to begin with.”

Then, one day, a horrible incident had occurred.

A certain god had insulted Roygen terribly.

Roygen had endured that.

But then the god had begun insulting Ro too, and Roygen had snapped.

And he had shattered the god’s heart.

Finally, the gods had begun trying to kill him.

But Roygen had been taught by Ro and could also use magic, so none of the gods had been able to stop him. All the gods there had perished by Roygen’s hand.

“Please execute him!”

Eventually, the gods turned to Ro, who had been standing there watching in shock, and asked her to execute Roygen.

They asked her to remove Roygen ­—or rather, the terrible Demon who had absorbed their evil— from the world.

It was true that Roygen needed to die for Paradise to return to normal.

But Ro could never do that.

After all, she loved him.

It was even possible that she had purposefully allowed Roygen to slaughter the gods. She, too, had been furious with them for holding Roygen in such unusually strong contempt.

Ro refused the gods’ request when she returned to her senses.

But she did grow angry with Roygen.

She had wanted for the gods to accept him peacefully. And so, she asked him to never do this again.

“I’m sorry, Ro. But this is me. You understand, right?”

But Roygen, after having burst open a heart and tasted the life inside it, had apparently decided not to hold back any longer. He had cast away any expectations he had for Paradise when the gods had come together to request his execution.

“There is no hope for Paradise, Ro. Did you know that? The gods are inherently evil. They instinctively seek to do evil.”

Then, Roygen taught the gods how to use magic.

The lower-ranking gods responded to magic with much enthuse.

Magic had been as a miracle to them. Powers were unique and absolute, but they had their limits, whereas magic was limitless. They could even kill or subdue high-ranking gods with magic.

Roygen began building up his influence. The gods who had once loathed him had turned around and begun following him. Those gods who preferred to do evil over good followed him as well. Some of them were even drowning in magic’s unlimited potential and destructive charms.

Roygen allowed everyone to use the mana he had accumulated throughout the entire course of his life and the new mana he made after absorbing the trait of life from divine power. And so, he spread his evil out into the world little by little.

Paradise had been divided into two factions.

A colossal war had broken out.

Countless gods had died, and Paradise had broken apart.

Birth disappeared and only extinction continued, just as it had once long ago. Roygen was running around Paradise with the intent to destroy it. Everyone around him perished whenever he returned to his original form and cast his golden magic.

The gods’ powers did not work on Roygen. He had survived in Pandemonium all alone, and his strength was superior to theirs.

And so, for the first time in his life, Roygen stoop atop the gods.

Then, he began to do anything in his means to get whatever it was that he wanted without holding back.

Especially gold. The gods who followed him and feared him learned that he liked gold, so they scraped together every last scrap of gold they had and offered it to him so they could curry his favor. The gold had piled up and up inside Roygen’s infinite subspace.

Roygen destroyed the world to his heart’s content and got drunk on life whenever he felt like breaking something. The total amount of demonic power increased whenever he got drunk on life, and the amount he carried inside his heart multiplied at a terrifying rate. The demonic power had eventually surpassed his carrying capacity and spilled out into the world, upturning it.

It wasn’t wrong to say that the world had belonged to Roygen.

Roberstein had been the only god in the world who could stop him.

“Stop!”

Roberstein stepped up to stop him whenever Roygen lost himself in his destructive desire and ran rampant. But it became more difficult for her to do so as time passed. Roygen had always been a quick study, and he had become Roberstein’s equal now that he used both magic and swordplay together.

Roberstein raged every time Roygen killed more gods. But Roygen could never understand her. He was blissful.

“I don’t need to receive life from you anymore. I have ample, since I took it from the others.”

“Roygen!”

“What? I have to take divine power from someone to survive anyway. That’s the only way for me to survive in Paradise! I would have had to beg the gods for divine power like a parasite had I not met you, and I would be groveling by their feet as I died if no one showed me mercy.”

“…….”

“You said that you would give me as much divine power as I wanted, but I hate that. I don’t like using your divine power because it’s too warm and too beautiful. I only want to protect it.”

Ro grew exhausted and eventually started ignoring Roygen. Then, Roygen began clinging to her.

“The gods follow me now, Ro. They support me. Isn’t this the side of Paradise you always wanted to show me?”

“You…….”

“Why are you being so cold to me? Why are you so angry? Don’t be cold to me. You promised. You said you’d stay by my side forever. You said you’d take my side no matter what. I haven’t changed. This is who I am. I love you like crazy, but I hate the other gods. This is me,”

Roygen pleaded as he kissed her. He continued,

“I don’t want to hold back like I used to. You saw it yourself. You saw how the gods treated me. You dragged me out into Paradise because you said they should be grateful to me. But they threw rocks at me instead. And they insulted you too.”

Roygen’s lips trailed down from Ro’s. He pried off the clothes covering their flesh, and he lowered their bodies to the ground. Ro moaned at the familiar sensation.

Ro grew more emaciated with each passing day.

Then, one day, she grew incredibly depressed. She started talking less and less until she stopped altogether. She was so listless that all she did was lean against me and sleep. She was stronger than any other, but she cried ever so much. A weary heart made the body weary too, and she even vomited in her nausea.

She started spending more time ignoring Roygen. And she coldly brushed Roygen off more frequently with each passing day.

Roygen, who had been watching her as she sat limply while burning up with a fever, had suddenly asked,

“What do you want me to do?”

And Ro had said,

Let’s go back.

I was wrong. Let’s just go back, Roygen. Let’s go back and live together, just the two of us. You said that I was all you ever needed.

“All right.”

Roygen had smiled with great cheer.

There had been madness in his smile.

“I’ll kill everyone, and we can go back and live together, just the two of us and Phaemdra. Does that sound good? We don’t need any of the other bastards.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“Then you want to go back without doing anything? And then what? Do you think the gods will leave this world alone?”

Ro had not been able to refute him.

She was no longer as naïve as she had once been. She had understood that Roygen was right.

“There’s no turning back, Ro. I’ve learned exactly what kind of bastard I am. But you still love me anyway, right? I’m all you need. Right? You promised. You said you’d stay by my side no matter what.”

The smile vanished from his face. He continued,

“Do you think I was wrong? Do you hate me now?”

“…….”

“No, right? I haven’t done anything wrong. They brought this upon themselves.”

Then, Roygen returned to his original form and began massacring the other gods. Golden mana rushed toward every other god in the world. Roygen had absorbed a tremendous amount of divine power, and he took pleasure in the flood of destruction that resulted.

Slowly, the End was coming closer.

Indeed.

Roygen had done nothing wrong.

Roygen had been a pure god, purer than any other, back before the gods had started throwing their evil away into Pandemonium.

It was the gods who had made him like this.

I was at fault too. I had not noticed what was happening to him because I had neglected him inside Pandemonium.

And Ro was probably also at fault. She had simply ignored it as the gods threw away their evil and piled it all up in one place. She had thought too little of the evil in the gods’ hearts because they all bowed their heads and hid their evil away when they were before her.

Ro and I continued to wither away.

But Ro had been both the Arbiter and the God of Judgment who safeguarded Paradise, so her melancholy was probably much worse than mine.

Her powerful soul grew weaker by the day. Eventually, she had even begun saying this:

“I want to die.”

She had grown so powerless that she could no longer hold Roygen back. I shared in her sentiment. My body withered away, having lost the will to live, just as Ro withered away.

“Is this how it ends……? Will it only be you and me left, just as Roygen said? I don’t want that…….”

I started growing curious about the future.

I couldn’t help myself, so I peeked into the near future.

And I was bewildered.

Roberstein.

You know…

There’s life inside your tummy.

It’ll be born in a few months.

You’ll be holding new life in your arms in the near future.

Ro couldn’t call the spirits to convey my words for me at the time, so I dropped a bunch of leaves on her stomach and gently placed a single flower on top.

“…….”

Roberstein’s eyes shook as she stared at her stomach.

It was around then that she had gone missing.

No one knew where she had gone. Not even me.

And Roygen grew even crazier.

Then, about three years later, she came back.

She came back not to Roygen, but to me, who was all but withered away.

She was holding the hand of a small and white child in hers.

And Ro had sounded so exhausted as she said,

“Please see the future for me, Phaemdra.”