“Now, answer, Sungchul Kim. What is your answer?”
And soon, she heard yet anther voice in the halls.
“…I shall become the tool of God.”
Bertelgia felt her heart sink to the pits of her stomach.
The voice from beyond the stairway.
It was Sungchul’s voice.
Bertelgia ran forward with all her might.
Once at the end of the hallway, bright lights came piercing into Bertelgia’s eyes.
Bertelgia grimaced as she shielded her eyes from the blinding light as she continued.
There was a stair.
It was a stair that extended endlessly into the sky beyond what she could see, surrounded by the scene of the universe expanding forever into the infinity.
And at the edge of the stair was Sungchul looking forward.
Bertelgia turned to look at what Sungchul was looking at.
Bertelgia couldn’t see what it was that he was looking at. He seemed to be staring at something, but all Bertelgia could see was a faint form of something to the side of what Sungchul was looking at.
“Good, Sungchul. You’ve chosen to turn yourself into a God’s Tool. But before that, there’s something you must answer.”
Bertelgia realized that this was the same voice she had heard earlier in the hallway, meaning this faint figure of something was the owner.
‘What’s going on here?’
To Bertelgia, it looked like Sungchul was staring off into the void as he conversed with some fuzzy form of something.
Ahmuge, who had been running after Bertelgia in a panic, finally arrived and stood by Bertelgia’s side.
“Where is this? What’s going on?”
Bertelgia put her finger on her lips and shushed her before watching Sungchul’s actions with a rigid look.
“What do you wish to accomplish as the Tool of God?”
Though Bertelgia couldn’t see its face, she could tell that it was laughing. It was engrossed in disgusting delight and twisted hatred that expressed itself as a smile.
‘That thing… that’s the bad guy!’
Bertelgia trembled.
Her habit of trembling when faced with psychopaths did not change even in her human form.
“What I want is the resolution of the Calamities.”
Sungchul answered without showing any emotions.
‘That’s… that’s not his usual self.’
Bertelgia who knew Sungchul better than anyone could tell instantly that he was in an altered state.
He was being dominated. The man who did not bow to anyone or anything was beaten by that transparent barely visible unidentified monster.
He was not in the right state of mind.
Her thoughts were cut short as the barely visible being’s smile seemed to spread more intensely.
It began again.
“But that’s not the end of it, is it Sungchul? There’s something more, isn’t there? Do you mean to say that you intend to do nothing to the world that made you like this?”
“…”
Sungchul did not answer immediately.
But he was hesitating.
Was he having an internal conflict.
That was when Ahmuge pointed towards something above Sungchul’s head.
“What’s that?”
It was only after being pointed out by Ahmuge that Bertelgia finally noticed a spinning steel wagon wheel above Sungchul’s head.
‘What is that?’
She had no knowledge of the Steel Soul.
But she could at least tell that it was the only thing keeping this man together from falling apart.
Bertelgia rolled up her sleeves.
“Oy! Hey! You!”
But her voice could not be heard by Sungchul.
Sungchul’s mouth was slightly ajar, muttering something as if talking in his sleep.
The only thing that responded to Bertelgia’s voice was the unseen being.
“Hoh? It seems we have some uninvited guests in this world of dreams. How rare. The Fog Guide should have been in possession of the Dragon Tribe as of now.”
The difficult-to-se being turned towards Bertelgia and Ahmuge.
Immediately, Bertelgia experienced fear on a cellular level.
But this was not the first time she had been exposed to a being that could cause such a terror with just a stare.
That made her think.
When was the last she felt like this.
And it was a relatively recent experience.
And thanks to that, Bertelgia was able to bring a word to her lips.
“You are… the God of Order?”
And to this, the hidden being released the terrifying gaze and laughed out loud.
“How ridiculous. Woe is the short sightedness of such inferior creatures. To see me, someone with the attributes farthest from order, to be comparable with such a traitor and a hypocrite. But I shall admit you were not entirely off the mark, as you at least recognized my divinity.”
As Bertelgia heard the arrogant and seemingly random pitch in the voice of this faint being, she was reminded of muddy water, or water muddied with mixtures of many shades of paint.
‘What is this guy? Not the God of Order. But he seems to be of equivalent power. What does that make him? The God of Neutrality? No, not even close. And it doesn’t seem like the Ancient God either. That means…?’
And as soon as Bertelgia’s thoughts reached this point, she had this sensation like some suspicious gaze was searching every inch of her body.
It was almost like as if her entire being was just seen in their entirety by this being.
And thus the formless being spoke.
“You’ve done well, Living Book. I am one of the principle gods, the one of the five all-fathers that ought to be rid from the world. The God of Chaos.”
And with that, the interior was met with a powerful gust of wind.
Bertelgia’s body was rocked, and Ahmuge fell to her knees.
Of the two, Ahmuge was the one who was more affected by this revelation.
“What? Just what’s going on? How did things get like this?”
She was already starting to lose her mind.
The initial shock of the terrifying gaze as well as the revelation of the name of this being finally brought her to her knees.
Ahmuge was not a strong person.
The self proclaimed God of Chaos saw Ahmuge and grinned and began to mock her.
“An insect unworthy of becoming even a tool.”
The God of Chaos looked to Bertelgia next.
“After all, most humans are not even good enough to be used as tools. Isn’t that funny?”
And with that, the God of Chaos was done with them.
It turned its attention back to Sungchul.
The rotational speed of the wheel above Sungchul’s head was slowly going down.
The moment the individual spokes could be easily counted by eye, the God of Chaos whispered to Sungchul softly.
“Now, go ahead and tell me. What did you tell me? What you truly want isn’t the resolution of the Calamlities, is it? That’s just an excuse. Go ahead and tell me, your true ambition.”
The eyes of the God of Chaos glistened.
“The end of all things.”
It was trying to compel him.
To say it with his own mouth.
Sungchul who was hesitating with blank stares like a doll was about to say something.
It was then.
“Hey!”
Bertelgia called out to Sungchul once more.
Sungchul did not respond.
The God of Chaos let out a laughter.
“No matter what you say, the God’s Tool shall not turn to look at you. With so much modification from me, this tool no longer has capacity for thought.”
And just like the God of Chaos said, it seemed that Sungchul’s mind and body already belonged to the God.
Bertelgia did not give up.
She searched within himself for something she could say to try and wake Sungchul up.
And that was when there was a miraculous glistening from within Sungchul’s coat.
It was the broach of the Master Chef.
For the first time, Bertelgia felt thankful for that broach as she squeezed all the power in her small body and screamed out with all of her strength.
“Hey! You mediocre cook!”
This seemed to echo all throughout the void, even beyond the stairway.
After a moment, there was a slight change in Sungchul’s behavior.
His eyebrows wiggled.
“Mediocre…cook…?!”
Sungchul responded.
Bertelgia saw hope as she shouted even louder.
“Yes, you chef wannabe! Your food sucks!”
“What did you say?!”
Sungchul kept on responding.
Bertelgia pressed on.
“I rather stuff my face full of Lizardmen’s Mealworm special than eat your disgusting terrible food!”
“Impossible! How dare you mock my food!”
Sungchul shouted back.
An uncharacteristically transparent expression of his feelings.
Life was returning to his previously unfocused eyes.
Seeing this, Bertelgia felt her eyes begin to water.
‘You’ve finally snapped out of it, you dummy!’
Sungchul finally felt that he woke up from a dream. From a dream that lasted too long, one that he couldn’t escape.
Sungchul’s prayers were finally answered.
But all Bertelgia’s presence achieved was to briefly pause the nightmares.
The emotional baggage Sungchul carried with him did not decrease in the slightest, and he was still trapped in the world of dreams.
‘Bertelgia.’
Sungchul’s eyes briefly revealed the depth of sadness and fear before being clouded over once more.
After a short period of time, he said to Bertelgia.
“Bertelgia. Sorry, but I won’t be able to walk the path of the Creationist with you any longer.”
Sungchul’s heart began to fall into darkness once more.
“I don’t have much time left. Abandon me and run. And if you can, go find Adelwight. You shall be able to live comfortably in the Fae World.”
The name of the darkness that clouded Sungchul’s face was resignation. It was not a darkness compelled upon him by anyone else.
It was darkness he created for himself.
Bertelgia could not understand why Sungchul was acting this way even after snapping out of it.
But she soon found out why.
The God of Chaos let out a dry laugh as he summoned a giant mirror to show Bertelgia and others what was happening.
Thump.
The venerable heartbeat could be felt from beyond the mirror.
Bertelgia saw something familiar at the center of the mirror.
The faintly beating heart of the Ancient God.
This was the most heavily guarded area in the underground of the capital city of La Grange.
The Emperor adorned in golden armor was standing by the heart, looking concerned.
“Oy, Sungchul. There’s not much time left. Your friend is about to do something horrendous!”
And soon, the Emperor’s voice could be heard from beyond the mirror.
“…If I cause the heart to rampage, I can call forth several Evil Gods at once. And with that, I shall be able to defend my Capital and support my Empire. That’s the only way to stop Kromgard’s plans.”
The Emperor in the mirror no longer had any shred of dignity of a ruler who fought for the good of his people.
He was biting the nail of his thumb, talking to himself; He was nothing more than a nervous wreck of an anxious, petty man.
Sungchul’s eyes twitched.
Bertelgia finally understood how the Chaos God was Keeping Sungchul here.
The Chaos God let out a disheveled laughter as he created another mirror next to the one showing the Emperor.
In the mirror was the image of Daincraft, Arcanite, and other kings gathered in one large tent.
One man entered the tent.
Sungchul’s eyes twitched once more.
‘Schnellmerker? How did he get into the Coalition tent?’
Sungchul did not know that the Order of Extinction had defended the Coalition’s retreat after the defeat.
Either way, the vice leader of the Order of Extinction spoke softly and logical tone of voice.
“Now that the Emperor has turned traitor and the Commander in Chief has fallen, the only hope remaining to us is to crown the one King.”
Schnellmerker glanced over at Kromgard after speaking, who remained sitting with his mouth shut.
The God of Order filled the void with his laughter.
“Look Sungchul, at the disgusting pettiness of these humans. Do you think anything will change even if you were to wake up?”
“…”
“And even if they do, it does not change the fact that the God of Order and his idiot brother, the God of Neutrality is after your life.”
Sungchul let his head drop upon hearing this.
There was an absolute difference in strength. One that even his god-like power residing in his body couldn’t help overcome.
The shadow cast over Sungchul’s face grew ever deeper, and meanwhile the eyes in the God of Chaos’s face became even more filled with madness.
It was followed by the God of Chaos’s excited, enthusiastic voice.
“Accept the truth and become the tool. The true Tool of God. And only then will you be able to unlock the true potential of the power hidden in your body.”
“The power hidden in my body…!”
Sungchul squeezed his eyes shut.
“Yes. Strength powerful enough to devour even the one who impersonates God.”
The faint black aura began to cover his body.
The spinning wheel above his head stopped spinning.
As Bertelgia watched Sungchul begin to succumb to the black aura upon the wheel stop turning, she noticed an ominous Cross of the Covenant pierced through Sungchul’s heart.
2 more chapters are out!