“Yeah, this is definitely a dream.”

I had concluded that this situation was a particularly nasty nightmare.

No, seriously, wasn’t this incredibly unfair?

With the Goddess Afrien of Love and Mercy already existing, why was the first god I ever met the Calamity of the Divine Realm?

There were countless different gods in this world, yet of all of them, I had somehow been summoned by the worst evil goddess imaginable.

Could someone really be this unlucky?

As I aimlessly stroked my chin, the Calamity made me realize that this was reality.

“This isn’t a dream.”
“This is reality.”

The Calamity had a huge smile blooming across her face, as though she found something about this situation incredibly amusing.

“No, it’s a dream.”
“That’s what I’ve decided.”

“I told you, it’s not a dream.”

“It is a dream.”

Twitch.

A thin vein appeared on the Calamity’s forehead.

Displaying the vein that symbolized her anger, the Calamity asked me a question.

“Do you want to get hit?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you wanted to get hit.”

“How are you going to hit me in that state?”
“Are you going to headbutt me or something?”

The dozens of chains binding the girl’s body.

At a glance, they appeared to be divine artifacts belonging to the other gods, created to seal her away.

Divine artifacts were objects belonging to gods.

There was no doubt that they contained absolute power beyond anything human knowledge could possibly comprehend.

Because of that, I trusted the effects contained within those chains with all my heart.

Without realizing that my faith was misplaced.

The girl gave a small nod at my mocking words.

“Hehe…”
“Can I take that as your agreement that you want to get hit?”

“Yeah…?”

What the hell?

Something felt incredibly ominous.

My instincts were screaming at me to slam my head against the ground and apologize immediately.

“Hoo.”

Before I could put my instincts into action, a breath escaped from her lips.

Pure-white particles of mana began sparkling within the distortion of the air.

The particles all flew toward my head at once.

“Wait… wait, wait, wai…!!!”

Thump-thump-thump-thump!

“Argh!”

Dozens of particles flew toward my head.

The physical force contained within them was quite threatening.

I tried to block the particles that kept flying toward me, but they moved like a swarm of gnats, darting around my hands and avoiding them from every direction.

Watching me frantically wave my hands around, the goddess burst into laughter.

“How is it?”
“Do you understand now that this isn’t a dream?”

“I get it!”
“So please stop!”

“No, I don’t think you understand yet.”
“Perhaps another ten minutes…”

“I’m going to die!”
“I’m seriously going to die!”

Soon, I heard her mutter, ‘It’s unfortunate, but I suppose I should stop.’

The pure-white particles that had been pounding my head scattered away.

“Ow… my head…”

I collapsed to the floor while rubbing my throbbing head.

“Don’t be so dramatic.”
“It wasn’t even that painful, was it?”

What?

Dramatic?

“Hey, does this look like I’m being dramatic?”
“I thought my skull was going to crack.”

“But it didn’t crack, did it?”
“Then that’s all that matters.”

“Hey…”

“Anyway.”

A smile bloomed around the girl’s eyes once again.

“My name is Lilac.”
“What is your name?”

“…”

She had such a radiant smile.

Even after beating the back of my head senseless just moments ago.

‘What the fck is with this little brat who seems to be the very embodiment of doing whatever the hell she wants?’

She abducted someone and brought them to a place like this.

Then she tried to smash the head of someone who had just come back from the brink of death.

And after beating me to her heart’s content, she suddenly wanted us to introduce ourselves?

‘What the hell is wrong with this woman?’

Was this really the evil goddess known as the Calamity of the Divine Realm?

‘She just seems like a brat who gets pissed off whenever things don’t go her way.’

After I remained dazed for quite some time, Lilac asked me again.

“I asked what your name was.”

Another vein rose on Lilac’s forehead.

I heard her inhale with a sharp “Tsk!”

It was obvious that I was going to get beaten again if I didn’t answer, so I reluctantly gave her my name.

“Cain.”
“Cain.”

Lilac tilted her head.

“Do you not have a family name?”

“Uh, no.”
“My family situation is a little unusual.”

“Hmm…”
“Is that so?”

A bitter curve formed at the corner of her lips.

“What a coincidence.”
“I am the same.”

It was a smile that made my heart ache just looking at it.

What could have happened to her for her to make such a sorrowful expression?

Lilac shook her head and brushed away the darkness that had fallen over her face.

“Anyway, it’s nice to meet you.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen a living human in two thousand years.”

After our eventful introductions were over, I asked her three questions.

Why I was here, what had happened to my wounds, and why she had summoned me.

“Hmm…”
“I suppose I don’t really need to answer the first and second questions, do I?”

I gave a small nod.

It was obvious that everything had been done by the goddess standing before me, from bringing me here to healing my dying body.

Not only was this a place that no human could possibly reach, but the wounds I had suffered had been far beyond the ability of modern medicine to heal.

‘But why?’
‘What could she possibly gain from this?’

The goddess paused for a moment before answering.

“The reason I summoned you?”
“That is…”

Yes.

Let’s hear what such an extraordinary reason could possibly be.

“Because I was bored.”

“…Huh?”

What the fck?

“Because I was bored.”
“Think about it.”
“I haven’t been able to meet anyone for more than two thousand years, and I’ve been stuck inside this boring temple the entire time.”
“How miserable do you think that was for me?”

“You summoned me just because you were bored?!”

“Just because?”
“Do you have any idea how miserable I was—”

Smack!

Before I could even suppress my rising blood pressure, my hand moved on its own.

“Ouch!”
“Why did you hit me?”

“Hey, you little sht.”
“I thought you had some amazing reason, but what?”
“You were bored?”
“You crazy little brat.”

“What is wrong with you!”
“I saved a dying man, and this is how you repay me?”

“Who asked you to save me?”
“Who told you to save me?”

I smacked my forehead.

“Ha…”
“I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even speak.”
“This is the Calamity of the Divine Realm?”

Are the gods idiots?

“You called me ‘this thing’?”
“How dare you call me such a thing!”
“You ignorant little puppy that doesn’t know to fear a tiger…”

I swung my hand one more time.

Smack!

“Urgh…!”

“Why are you getting angry when you haven’t even done anything right?”
“I’m the one who should be angry.”

“Uuu…”

I plopped down onto the floor.

The goddess stared at me with a sullen expression.

“What?”
“What?”
“Got a problem?”

“You do know what kind of being I am, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”
“I know.”

I brought a finger toward the goddess’s forehead.

“An evil goddess who killed more than half of all the gods belonging to the Divine Realm.”
“The Calamity of the Divine Realm.”
“Lady Lilac.”

Tap!

“Ouch!”

An ordinary human would probably fall into a panic the moment they learned her identity, unable to even twitch a finger.

But I wasn’t an ordinary human.

I had lived a life filled with countless hardships.

To me, this situation was simply another experience added to the hundreds or thousands of times I had nearly died.

If she had intended to kill me in the first place, she wouldn’t have healed me.

“Why?”
“Did you think I’d be scared?”

“Hah…”
“You truly are a strange human.”

“Strange?”
“Hey, you’re not exactly in a position to say that.”

I gently rubbed the goddess’s forehead.

“Anyway, that makes us even.”

“Even?”

“I’m talking about when you hit me earlier.”

She thought about it for a moment before her eyes suddenly lit up.

“Oh!”

The goddess let out a hollow laugh as though she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

“How strange.”
“To think I summoned such a peculiar human.”
“I never imagined a human would try to apply the theory of fairness to a god…”

“Why?”
“Should I show you some respect?”
“Do you want that?”

“No.”

A gentle smile appeared around her eyes.

“I like this level of disrespect just fine.”

Inside a barracks belonging to the First Military Camp on the Western Front, located on the outskirts of the Demon Realm, a man sat in a chair with his fingers pressed against his brow.

“Haa…”

The man looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.

“What should I tell Lord Surd?”

His name was Robelm Ken Hynes.

He was the Knight Commander of the First Military Camp of the Leoni Kingdom.

Robelм threw down the paper he had been holding and covered his face with both hands.

Written on the fluttering paper was the following.

• Cain, of the First Military Camp of the Leoni Kingdom, is missing.
• Probability of death is extremely high.

Robelм let out a deep sigh and scattered the papers lying on his desk into the air.

Whoosh!

“I thought that bastard would never die.”

Stepping on the mess of papers scattered across the floor, Robelm clutched his head.

“Fck, I never should’ve accepted that bunch of rookies’ stupid plan.”

If only the Hero Party hadn’t been involved.

Robelм muttered those words as he recalled Surd, once known as the strongest hero in the kingdom.

Surd, the former hero who had been called the strongest.

Ten years ago, he had entered old age and could no longer continue fighting the war, but simply having him in the kingdom still served as a deterrent against the demons.

Robelм remembered the request Surd had made when he had taken over as Knight Commander of the First Military Camp.

‘Please take good care of my son, Cain.’
‘I trust you with him.’

A gentle hand had patted his shoulder.

Robelм held his own shoulder and lowered his head.

Remembering that moment only made his head ache even more.

After gulping down the glass of water sitting on his desk, Robelm threw the glass onto the floor.

Crash!

“Ah… fck…”
“Fck, fck, fck, fck, fck!!!”

The news of Cain’s death had come as a tremendous shock to Robelm.

He was a truly strange man.

His physical abilities were vastly inferior to those of the other soldiers, yet he was a man who handled his body so perfectly that he more than made up for the difference.

If others knew how to draw out one hundred percent or even two hundred percent of their strength, he was a warrior capable of utilizing his body without limit.

He had never died on any battlefield.

Even when his flesh was torn apart and every bone in his body was broken, he had always returned alive.

‘And he always brought back the enemy commander’s head with him.’

To be honest, there were times when Robelm thought it would have been better if the Hero Party responsible for creating this situation had died instead.

From a military standpoint—

A competent weakling with a cool head was far more useful than an incompetent strongman who overestimated his own abilities.

Cain was that capable.

He was a veteran who had survived nine years on the brutal battlefield.

They said that another Hero Party had become the hope of the front lines in other areas.

But on this western front alone, it was no exaggeration to say that the entire line had been maintained by Cain’s presence.

‘The moment his body recovered even slightly, he burned himself out in war every single day.’

Robelм’s sigh grew even deeper.

“I shouldn’t have sent him.”

He continued blaming himself as he replayed his mistake in his mind.

Cain was not a hero.

Although he carried the title of the hero’s adopted son, he was an ordinary person…

No, he was a weakling who was even inferior to an ordinary person.

And yet, despite being weak, he had killed countless powerful enemies.

Robelм remembered something Cain had once said.

‘Strength and weakness don’t matter in war.’
‘If you get killed, you die.’

Those words were true.

No matter how strong someone was, they would die if their throat was cut.

No matter how powerful someone was, they would die if their head was blown apart.

It was a remarkably simple answer.

But whether or not someone could actually do those things depended on their individual abilities.

That was why he regretted it.

He knew this mission had exceeded Cain’s capabilities.

He had realized that he had placed too much faith in him.

‘Still, I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would pull through…’

Robelм clicked his tongue.

‘Even if I regret it now, it’s too late…’

Robelм sighed and took out a sheet of paper and a pen.

He began writing a short, concise letter.

Scribble, scribble… Tap!

A single period marked the end of the sentence.

He carefully folded the letter and placed it inside a drawer.

Then he closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair.

“Lord Surd.”
“I’m truly sorry.”
“And…”

A single tear fell from the corner of Robelm’s eye.

“You’ve suffered enough.”
“Get some rest now.”
“At least over there.”

“Hee~”
“When I saw you fighting, I thought you were just some kind of berserker.”
“To think you’re actually an ordinary human.”

“…”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Say something.”

It had already been three days since I had been kidnapped and brought here.

I was lying beneath the altar, trying to move as little as possible.

“I’m thirsty…”

The water flask I had been carrying was completely empty.

Looking at the small amount of emergency rations remaining in my pocket, I let out a sigh from the depths of my heart.

‘I only have enough left for two more days.’

The only things visible here were beautiful quartz and pure-white plaster.

“Hey, Lilac.”
“Is there anything to eat around here…?”
“Or at least something to drink?”

“Hmm…”
“Something to eat…”

Lilac fell into thought for a moment.

‘What the hell was I thinking when I said that?’
‘Have I lost my mind because I’m hungry?’

There was no way something like that could exist in this desolate, completely empty temple…

“There is.”
“No, more precisely, I think there is.”

“What?!”
“There is?!”
“Really?!”

I immediately jumped to my feet.

“Yes.”
“Can you see those boxes at the ends of those pillars over there?”

“Boxes?”

I looked toward where Lilac was staring.

Ten boxes made of plaster were sitting there.

“There’s a very sweet smell of fruit coming from over there.”
“I don’t know why, though.”

“Fruit?”
“Hey, those must have been there more than two thousand years ago.”
“They’ll be completely rotten by now.”

Damn it.

I’d gotten my hopes up for nothing.

With my hopes crushed, I gently tapped the back of my head.

Lilac shook her head slightly.

“No.”
“They’re probably still fine.”
“There’s preservation magic on them.”

“Really?!”

“Whether they’re really fine or not, you should check for yourself.”

“Hmm…”

I let out a small groan before walking toward the boxes.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

The lid of the box slowly opened.

A sweet fragrance so intense it made my head ache pierced my nose.

I rubbed my temples and looked inside the box.

“Oh…”
“This is…”

The box was filled with red fruit.

Apples.

“But why does it smell like this?”
“Are they rotten?”

They looked perfectly fine on the outside.

“Hmm…”

I picked up an apple and thought about it for a moment.

Even if preservation magic had been cast on it, this fruit was still two thousand years old.

There was no guarantee it was safe.

Growl…

“…..”

My stomach continued sending desperate signals that it was starving for nutrients.

I couldn’t find anything else to eat anyway.

Not eating wasn’t an option.

“Ahh~”

Crunch, crunch, gulp!

The flesh was sweet and juicy.

The juice moistened my throat.

“Mmm!”
“It’s fresh.”

Contrary to my worries, the apple was incredibly fresh, as though it had just been picked.

I ate several apples before grumbling softly.

“It’s nice that there’s food, but why are there only apples?”

All ten boxes were filled with apples.

On the lid of one box that had been moved aside, a small circular spell formation had been engraved.

“The preservation magic is seriously impressive.”
“To think food that’s more than two thousand years old is still perfectly fine.”

No, perhaps the person who cast this magic was the impressive one.

I could sense an indescribable level of intricacy from the circular spell formation engraved on the lid.

With the limited mana available to humans, it would be impossible to maintain such a sophisticated spell for this long.

‘Another god probably engraved it.’

But why?

Why would someone create something like this near someone who had been sealed away and couldn’t do anything?

“Hmm…”

There were too many things I couldn’t understand.

Still, thanks to those questions I couldn’t answer, at least I wouldn’t starve.

For that alone, I should be grateful.

“Up we go!”

I returned to Lilac’s side with my arms full of apples.

“Ooh!”
“You brought a lot!”

“Yeah.”
“There were a ton of them.”

“Hee…”

Slurp!

“Hey.”
“You’re drooling.”

“I… I’m sorry.”
“It’s been two thousand years since I’ve seen food, so I couldn’t control myself.”

“Huh?”
“You tried some of my emergency rations before.”

“That isn’t food.”
“It’s garbage.”
“Don’t insult the daily nourishment of all creation.”

“Was it really that bad…?”

Lilac nodded vigorously.

“Good grief.”
“You’re incredibly picky.”

I took a dagger out of my pocket.

I cut the apples I had brought into bite-sized pieces and placed them in front of Lilac.

“What is this?”

Lilac tilted her head in confusion.

“An apple.”

“Do you think I don’t know what that is?”
“I’m asking why you’re putting the cut pieces on the floor.”

“Uh…”

I raised my head and looked at the chains.

As her upper body moved, the chains rattled softly.

A thought occurred to me.

‘If she tries to eat this while hanging from those chains…’

She’d have no choice but to lower her head and bring her mouth all the way to the floor.

It would be quite a grotesque position.

‘If I had to describe it, she’d be eating like a dog.’

I turned my head away and suppressed the laughter threatening to burst out.

“Cain…”
“Why are you staring at an empty space?”

“Ah…”
“No, pfft!”
“It’s nothing.”

Once I had calmed down, I looked straight ahead.

The pure-white goddess was facing me, her small, delicate lips parted.

“…”

What was this supposed to mean?

I understood it intellectually, but I couldn’t accept it emotionally.

Lilac began getting angry with me.

“You’re so frustrating!”
“Why don’t you put the fruit in my mouth already?”

“…What?”

What the hell?

What did I just hear?

“I said put the fruit in my mouth!”
“Are you deaf?”
“I suppose I’ll have to heal those dark ears of yours myself!”

“No…”
“Wait a second.”

Was what I was thinking really correct?

“Are you seriously asking me to feed you the fruit myself?”

“Of course!”

I was so flustered that I frantically waved my hands.

“No, why?!”
“You can eat it yourself!”

“Enough!”
“Do you think I’m going to take such an unsightly position?!”
“Quickly!”
“Offer the food to my mouth!”

“No!”
“Why should I?!”
“Eat it yourself!”

I had lived my entire life without ever having any relationship with a woman.

And now I was suddenly expected to play the whole “Ahh~” feeding game with a beautiful woman?

‘This difficulty level is way too high.’

I immediately stood up.

“Call me when you’ve finished eating.”
“I’ll be somewhere else.”

If no one was watching, there’d be nothing embarrassing about it.

I turned around and was about to jump down from beneath the altar when—

“Sniff…”
“Sniff…”

A goddess’s sobbing came from behind me.

“Huh…?”
“Hey, are you crying?!”

“Sniff…”
“Waaah…”

Tears poured from her pure-white eyes.

I took a piece of cloth from my pocket and wiped her tears.

“D-don’t cry!”
“I said don’t cry!”

“I…”
“Sniff…”
“I haven’t eaten anything for two thousand years…”
“Sniff…”

“Hey!”
“Stop!”
“I said stop crying!”

“Waaah…”

The tears continued to flow without stopping.

The harder I tried to comfort her, the worse things seemed to get.

“Ah…”
“Seriously!”

With no other choice, I picked up an apple.

“I’ll give you some!”
“I said I’ll give you some!”
“So stop crying!”

“Sniff…”
“Really…?”

The tears pooled beneath her eyes shimmered brilliantly.

Their diamond-like clarity made Lilac’s beauty shine even more.

“Haa…”

I pushed the apple into her mouth.

“Here…”
“I’ll give it to you.”
“So don’t cry.”

Even in this situation, I was getting distracted by her appearance.

What a simple and stupid bastard I was.

‘No, that’s not even the only problem…’

I stole another glance at Lilac’s face.

‘She’s seriously way too beautiful.’

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

She was chewing away so diligently with those small, delicate lips.

Her jaw moved without pause, continuously pushing the contents of her mouth down her throat.

Her puffed-out cheeks looked just like a hamster.

‘…Cute.’

Fine, I admit it.

No, I have no choice but to admit it.

I’m really just a simple bastard.

What could I do?

I didn’t even know I was such a single-celled creature.

Crunch!

The fruit on the floor disappeared in an instant.

After devouring it in the blink of an eye, she looked up at me with an expression that seemed to say she wanted more.

“…Mmm.”

“…”

I started peeling another apple.

“I’ll give you some.”
“That’s all you had to do, right?”

“Yes!”

Lilac nodded.

But—

…

‘How long is she planning to keep eating?’

The fruit placed on the floor disappeared one after another.

The apples that had formed a small hill were steadily disappearing into her mouth, leaving nothing behind but their cores.

Crunch!

The mountain of fruit had begun to dwindle, yet her jaw continued moving without rest, relentlessly chewing through the food.

‘F*ck, I think I’ve already peeled about twenty.’

Finally, the last fruit beside us disappeared.

“Is there any more?”

She asked me for a refill.

“…”

I turned toward the storage room with unsteady steps.

And then I thought—

“I’ll bring more…”

I might as well just bring everything that’s left…