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“Alright then, the bug can fly away for now.”

With a light flick of her palm, the Goddess of Life sent the large fly buzzing into the air.

Once Zeus, the fly was now destined to live as the king of filthy insects, not even knowing what it truly was.

“So, what should the rest of the gods do? Hmm.”

The Goddess of Life glanced around at the frozen gods and gave a small nod.

Although Zeus, the instigator of forcing Rychlen into godhood, had flown off as a fly, the other gods couldn’t escape responsibility either.

They too would be punished.

“Hmm… If we remove everything here, the plan would be completely ruined. Ugh… I guess there’s no helping it.”

The Goddess of Life snapped her fingers, and at that moment, dozens of figures appeared anew.

They were all clad in the garb of pilgrims from the Temple of Life.

“Humans…?”

“No way, a human can’t just come here without an invitation!”

“Did the Goddess of Life call them? What could they possibly need humans for?”

The gods frowned at the newly appeared pilgrims. Just humans. What could they possibly accomplish?

However…

“Things have changed from the plan, but let’s do our part. Each god should be confined to their own temple.”

“Yes!”

The pilgrims shouted in unison and began grabbing the nearby gods.

“Let go of me! You filthy humans!”

“Filthy humans? You’ve got some serious blindness, huh?”

With that remark, the pilgrims began to unleash their astonishing power.

“Whoa!”

From the pilgrims came a surge of magical energy that was far from human—powerful enough to stand toe-to-toe with many gods.

And it wasn’t just a few, dozens of pilgrims exuded this overwhelming magical force, so it was no wonder the gods looked on in shock.

“What in the world…?”

“I wouldn’t call just anyone here. They are dragons who follow me.”

“Dragons…?”

From the gods’ perspective, dragons were a concept they only vaguely understood and had rarely seen in person.

They only knew them as beings with strong bodies and magical prowess; details were mostly lost on them. Most dragons were either serving as pilgrims at the Temple of Life or holed up in their territories, and only a select few were known to act as gods. Those few kept their distance from others.

So, the gods merely speculated on the recorded accounts from others, having no real grasp of dragon strength.

They wouldn’t even know that these dragons, with their pure strength, could roughly match a god’s power.

Last time dragons showed their terrifying might was a decade ago during the fall of Aesir, unleashing ruthless attacks, but Hermes and Mars were the only ones to witness that horror directly.

Most gods didn’t truly comprehend the strength of dragons.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

As the Goddess of Life spoke, the dragons began to move, gathering the incapacitated gods.

Before long, all the gods had been relocated by the dragons.

“Now then.”

The Goddess of Life turned her gaze to the only one left, Rychlen.

“I anticipated there would be many variables since we only prepared the general outline of the plan, but I never expected it to fall apart like this.”

“Plan…?”

“Yes, the plan. Your abrupt actions completely wrecked everything.”

The Goddess of Life began lamenting as she looked at Rychlen.

“This was not how it was supposed to unfold. I intended to give the gods some pressure with a bit of breathing room, mobilizing dragons and other forces for a war… a Gigantomachy, to undermine the faith directed toward the gods of Olympus….”

“Is it my fault?”

After a moment of contemplation, the Goddess of Life shook her head in response to Rychlen’s question.

“It’s hard to say it’s your fault… Hmm. It would be a mistake to try to stab you in the neck with a dagger unexpectedly. Especially one laced with poison.”

“But… I didn’t want to be a puppet for those guys.”

“Well, that’s true. I understand that, but… they called you earlier than planned. We should have had more time, at least a few days…”

The Goddess of Life sighed.

“Well, it’s done now. I can’t change what’s already occurred. Unfortunately, we’ll have to abandon the Gigantomachy idea. And the resultant gap in faith from forcibly diminishing those gods… well, I hate to say it, but I’ll have to deal with it.”

“Gap in faith?”

“Let’s just say it exists; you don’t need to worry about it. You, as a human, don’t need to concern yourself with such matters.”

With that, the Goddess of Life inspected Rychlen’s body.

“Let’s see. No significant injuries—good. I can send you back just like this.”

“Send me back…?”

“With things having turned out this way, what help would you be here? Plus, this place is bound to get chaotic while I deal with those gods. So, it’s best that you return.”

“But… Gaia…”

Hearing that name, the Goddess of Life chuckled softly.

“Gaia, huh? It’s been a long time since I was referred to by that name. The others didn’t know it.”

“…….”

“Right, Hades told me you find human life satisfying, but that hasn’t changed, has it?”

Rychlen nodded at the Goddess of Life.

“I see. If you’re happy with your life, that’s great. Now, you should head back. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“But….”

“But? Are you saying you’ve changed your mind and want to return to being a god?”

Rychlen shook his head softly. The desire to become a god was still absent.

“I see. Hmm… If you had wanted to be a god, you would have become one long ago. Then the seat of the king of the gods will remain unfilled.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No need for you to apologize. It’s those gods who are the real scoundrels here.”

Rychlen remained silent, having recognized the hidden disappointment in the Goddess of Life’s words.

“Then… let’s see. If I just send you back as-is, you’ll likely record everything that happened here. Hmm… I might need to make a slight adjustment.”

“Gaia…?”

“Oh, it’s not that serious, so don’t worry. I just need to adjust your memory a little bit. Not too much—just a sliver. Only what happened after I almost stabbed you in the neck.”

The Goddess of Life spoke as if it were troublesome, and Rychlen nodded in response.

She had saved him from becoming a god, so granting her this minor change was only right.

Or rather, if he were to be honest, he wanted to give her anything she wished.

So…

“It doesn’t matter. Just that much of memory is fine.”

“Great, thanks. I’ll just tweak it from the moment time froze and edit it. Or maybe it would be even better to go forward where you were about to stab yourself, and then I come in to punish the gods, resurrect you… that sounds nice.”

As she said this, the Goddess of Life gave a small smile.

“Knowing your personality, it’s only natural you’d write this down. It won’t be long till that writing spreads among humans. In doing so, they’ll recognize the arrogance and selfishness of the gods… And at the end, it’ll come full circle when I save you and resurrect you, turning that faith back toward me… Ugh. Never mind.”

The Goddess of Life, who had been speaking methodically, suddenly scowled in annoyance.

“I figured I could divide the labor using fragments to lessen the burden and minimize external activities to redirect the faith directed at me toward other gods. But this feels like we’re back to square one! Ugh!! I don’t want to be buried under this avalanche of work!!!”

The Goddess of Life, shaking her head and spouting incomprehensible words, left Rychlen scratching his head in confusion.

He may not fully understand what was going on, but he sensed that due to this debacle, she would face a lot of hardship.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“So, the Goddess of Life resurrected Rychlen, who had taken his own life, and imposed great punishment on the other gods. Basically, that’s the gist of it.”

“The record left by Rychlen doesn’t contradict that much. It noted he was resurrected thanks to the Goddess of Life.”

“Anyway, I think I’ve covered most of it. Hmm… Did I miss anything?”

The Dragon Priestess pondered for a moment before I casually chimed in.

“I’ve heard the story, but I’m not sure how that relates to hiding the name Baal.”

“Ah… hmm. Right, I was talking about masking Baal’s name.”

She seemed genuinely forgetful as the Dragon Priestess smiled awkwardly.

“The reason for concealing Baal’s name… Well, let’s say it’s to await the day Baal returns.”

“The day he returns?”

“It’s meant to be kept clear for when Baal’s soul returns. It may not be now, but after experiencing dozens or hundreds of lives, if that soul finds satisfaction… wouldn’t he be able to reclaim his place as a god?”

The Dragon Priestess continued, her gaze drifting far away.

“Although that name was buried by scoundrels and hidden away… I have faith he will return someday. When that soul comes back, the world will know there was once a king of the gods. I’ve prepared for that day.”

She locked her eyes on me as she continued.

“In that situation, if someone else were to unearth Baal’s name and announce it… how would that affect the preparations?”

“…….”

Suddenly, my shoulders felt heavier. No, the air felt heavy.

“Simply put, it’s like preparing for a surprise party and having someone spill the beans and ruin everything. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Ah, I see….”

“Glad you understood! So.”

The Dragon Priestess snapped her fingers lightly and grabbed something that appeared in the air.

It was a small fragment of a stone tablet. A piece that felt very familiar.

“I’ll be taking this.”

“That…!”

I hurriedly searched my pockets, realizing the piece with Baal’s name I always carried had vanished.

How, just how did it…?

“I cannot allow anyone to reveal Baal’s name. Honestly, even if you present this nicely at a conference… I don’t think you’d come out unscathed.”

“That’s….”

“Or do you want to risk your life to present it and end up buried forever?”

I shook my head at the Dragon Priestess’s words. Anything said like that… would mean she was willing to do it herself.

“Well, I’m not a villain either. In exchange for taking this, I’ll give you a little gift.”

The Dragon Priestess pulled something from her robe and tossed it to me.

It was a transparent shell, made of crystal, resembling a magic conch shell.

“This is….”

“You’ve seen it in stories, right? A magical shell that grants three wishes.”

“A magical shell… that actually exists?”

At my words, the Dragon Priestess gave a small chuckle.

“It exists because there’s an original. Most stories work that way. Anyway, in exchange for this tablet, I’ll grant you three wishes. Aside from what I can’t fulfill, I can grant you most wishes. After all, you’ve delved deep into Baal’s truth; if it continues like this, you might uncover everything. So take it honorably.”

“My goodness… a wishing shell actually exists… No, wait! How do you have….”

When I looked up at the Dragon Priestess, she had already vanished.

Why does the Dragon Priestess have this conch shell? Or perhaps… her true identity is…

I shook my head, organizing my runaway thoughts, and tucked the conch into my pocket before exiting the room.

For now, I must speak with Huang Dong-gyeong. Even if I give him one of the three wishes, I still need to finish the conversation.

 

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