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Whiiiiing.

The wind blows in. A gentle breeze sweeps in, tousling my hair and creating ripples in the still water.

At first, it feels no different from a gentle breeze, but I know this wind is unnatural.

A stone-encased space where no wind should ever blow! Yet, from somewhere, the wind still flows.

It’s an utterly strange feeling, yet I’ve been in a similar situation before.

‘When I saw the Divine Tree at Yawol.’

Back then, too, a gentle breeze blew in a place devoid of wind.

And now, it feels no different.

Wind is felt in places where it shouldn’t be. Hence, I’ve come to realize something I didn’t know back then.

‘This isn’t a wind created by the Divine Tree.’

It’s something unnatural.

Or perhaps something that shouldn’t exist.

A wind generated by something I cannot comprehend.

I was standing right in front of its source.

A woman, who referred to herself as a spirit.

She claimed to be the priestess of her master, saying she could convey their words and intentions, originally residing on Spirit Mountain.

The moment I saw that spirit, my heart reacted.

Thump!

My heart raced violently. The energy within surged unchecked.

Am I facing an enemy? No. This is—

‘Confronting an unimaginable existence.’

Something so high and mighty I couldn’t even dare to look up at it.

Something undefinable. A sensation instinctively rejecting my mere judgment.

With that feeling, I looked at the spirit. She only gazed back at me.

But I could tell her eyes were different than before.

The veil obscured her sight.

Yet, somehow, it felt like she could see something.

As I quietly stared at her, I found myself trying to recall when I had felt this way before.

No, I already knew. I mentioned it earlier.

I had felt this way before in front of the Divine Tree at Yawol.

This wind.

This air.

And even that gaze looking at me.

There’s only one being that gives such a simultaneously distant yet near sensation that I know of.

And so, I called out to her.

“Mother…?”

“Oh my.”

The spirit responded to my words. Her voice was exactly like hers, yet the tone had completely changed.

At that moment.

“Got caught, huh?”

Wuuuuuuuung–!!!

The lake trembled. The tranquil waves disturbed by the wind grew a touch more tumultuous. Though not enough to be called a wave, the unease I felt blended with my emotions.

“How did you know?”

The spirit. No, my mother, asked me that. Hearing her, I squinted and replied.

“……Just a feeling.”

I just understand. The sensation, the instinct. My five senses were telling me that the being in front of me wasn’t just a spirit.

If it wasn’t the spirit, then who could it be? I lifted my head to gaze at the sky.

‘Full moon.’

The moon radiated its presence.

Didn’t my mother say that? To meet on the hill when the full moon rises.

And the spirit of my mother I met at Yawol once mentioned that it would indeed be on the hill at Spirit Mountain.

Now the full moon hung above, and I was on the hill. Therefore, I boldly speculated that the one before me must be my mother, and that was all.

How my mother existed within the body of a spirit and how this situation came to be was unclear. It was silly to dwell on that now.

‘All I can ascertain is…’

That my mother is a being capable of such things.

From Yawol, or perhaps from the moment I entered Mankye, it’s a fact I’ve been able to know.

“……Why have you come this time?”

“The fact that you say ‘this time’ means you’ve already been through something, huh?”

“Yes. I’ve been through it. I met my mother at the Divine Tree in Yawol.”

“Hmm… really?”

My mother tilted her head at my reply, her silver hair swaying slightly.

“I wonder what you heard?”

Does she not remember what she said back then? It seemed she had no memory of the conversation regarding the beliefs she left behind.

So, I briefly conveyed the information I heard from her back then.

“Hmm.”

After listening, my mother nodded. Especially when I mentioned that she told me to ask about what I couldn’t inquire in Yawol while at Spirit Mountain.

“Oh dear. You passed that onto me, huh… you naughty thing.”

She frowned, seemingly displeased upon seeing herself.

Having felt this since coming here, I sensed that my mother’s personality felt strangely peculiar.

In my recollection, my mother was mature and composed back in the day.

But it seems that’s not entirely the case anymore.

Anyway.

“Mother.”

I called for her.

“Yes, my son. What is it?”

Responding warmly to my call, just like when I was a child, I still found that voice to be delightful.

Having painfully lived on, stained with the blood of countless others, struggling desperately against the karma bestowed upon me,

I still remained simply as a helpless little son.

And absurdly enough, that felt quite comforting.

However.

“What exactly do you want from me?”

I knew well enough that I couldn’t afford to indulge in warmth like that.

Regrettably, the task ahead of me felt as heavy as Mount Tai.

“I don’t understand why you brought me here. What do you truly desire from me, Mother?”

“Hmm….”

My question made my mother ponder. Was she trying to choose her words or gauge how much she could reveal?

I was only filled with curiosity.

After a brief moment passed.

“Mom just wants her son to be happy.”

My mother began to speak.

“And so, if possible, I’d like to send my son down a path that brings him happiness. But there aren’t many such paths available.”

“……A path to happiness?”

The words nearly made me laugh out loud.

A path to happiness. Is there truly such a thing? It had been quite a while since I abandoned that notion.

Neither in my past life nor in this one.

My happiness had become a rather unimportant part of my existence, and that remained unchanged.

“Can such a thing really exist?”

When I spoke as if I didn’t particularly need it, my mother paused momentarily. Her petite shoulders trembled slightly, as if something she wanted to say had stumbled and fallen silent.

Seeing that, I clicked my tongue in my mind. I hadn’t intended to evoke such a reaction.

Now I appeared to be acting childishly.

So, I made an effort to redirect the conversation to another topic.

“……Mother, I need the Fruit of God.”

It was about the Fruit of God.

There were indeed many things to ask, but ultimately, the most pressing matter was the Fruit of God.

“The Fruit of God?”

Upon hearing that, my mother’s reaction shifted.

Is she surprised because I suddenly said I needed the Fruit of God? I wondered as I watched her response.

“……How do you know about it?”

“Excuse me?”

I had to squint at my mother’s words.

How do I know?

“What do you mean…?”

I was left baffled by her sudden shift.

“Uh?”

At my words, my mother looked startled.

“Did you not say it knowing?”

“Knowing? What do you mean?”

“……Ah.”

My mother, as if realizing something too late, muttered something empty. She spoke as though something was wrong.

Hoping to find out more, I asked.

“Why? Do I need the Fruit of God?”

“…….”

My mother did not respond. Yet, her reaction was already equivalent to an answer.

I shook my head and said.

“If that’s the case, then that isn’t true. I’ve already consumed the Fruit of God. I obtained it through you, Mother.”

In the past, I had consumed the Fruit of God and redefined my twisted soul. Because of that, the soul I was meant to be the master of had re-emerged.

“So what I’m asking is… Why was it necessary for me to consume the Fruit of God? And…”

I recalled the figure who had given me the Fruit of God and asked.

“……Why is the Divine Sword here? No, is it even the Divine Sword to begin with…?”

I brought up Yarang, who bore the visage and energy of the Divine Sword.

To that, my mother quietly regarded me.

It wasn’t silence. As I waited for her to choose her words, she once again continued.

“Mom said she wants her son to be happy, right?”

“Yes.”

“If my son is to be happy, there were things he needed to do.”

“Like me consuming the Fruit of God?”

Then I could make even less sense of it.

“……Why? If I consume that…”

I had to become the master, so they said.

“Does that mean that’s the path to my happiness?”

To become a master and destroy the Central Plains by any means possible.

Could that really be the path to my happiness? I couldn’t accept that.

“……The path to my happiness isn’t anything like that.”

If being a calamity and burning everything down brings happiness, then surely nothing could be more ridiculous than that.

“I’d rather just die.”

“…….”

I felt my mother’s gaze upon me as I muttered that under my breath.

Oh no. That was not something I should say in front of my parents.

Yet.

“My son.”

My mother spoke as she looked at me.

“You cannot die by your own hand.”

“Excuse me?”

“You can’t do that. Haven’t you ever thought that was odd?”

“…….”

I widened my eyes at her words.

I rolled up my sleeves and examined my arms. Goosebumps crawled up my skin.

I cannot die by my own hand.

Her words were shattering something in my awareness.

‘Huh?’

My mind went blank.

Having gone through countless hardships, burning with anger against those cruel trials and fate, resigning myself to them,

I repeatedly lived in anguish.

‘So?’

Why had I never sought to die by my own hand?

It wasn’t merely because I cherished my life or desired to live; it felt distinctly different.

Could it be?

“…….”

I sharpened my hand.

With my hand wrapped in strong energy, I reached out towards my neck.

Just as that strong energy was about to pierce my neck—

Stiff!

“……!”

My hand froze right there.

It wasn’t by my own will. No, though it was indeed my will, something felt off.

Something unknown was preventing my death.

 

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