Chapter 6: Test (1)

A voice could be heard.
The mocking voice of someone.

Ssssss…

Pink mist churned within the sphere.
Each time its rippling waves rose alluringly, the sweet whisper of an unfamiliar woman echoed through the air.

[What do you want…?
Tell me your wish.]
[Are you trying to save the Calamity?
Do you think you can do it?]
[Come here…
If you do just that…]

[I…]

“…..”

[I will grant that wish.]

Heh…

“Go f*ck yourself.”

In one corner of Roflerum, where not even the sound of an insect could be heard, I slipped the sphere I was holding into my pocket and slowly walked toward where Lilac was.

‘Three days left.’

Only three days remained until Lilac’s disappearance.

The goddess was sleeping peacefully, her face serene.
Her dark eyelashes shimmered beautifully between her pure-white hair.

I gently placed my hand on Lilac’s head.

“…..”

She didn’t move at all.

Looking at Lilac, who showed no sign of waking up, I swallowed a deep sigh.

‘She would’ve woken up long ago under normal circumstances.’
‘And yet, she doesn’t even seem to notice my presence…’

That meant she had that little power remaining.

I stared at Lilac’s sleeping face for a long time.

“Whoo…”

Would she worry if she realized I had disappeared without saying anything?
Would she waste her mana trying to find me?

‘That would be a problem.’

With every pointless thought that crossed my mind, my footsteps seemed to grow heavier.

—She isn’t going to make a fuss about being hungry, is she?
—She’s not going to kidnap another human because she’s bored, is she?
—Why?
Why am I trying so hard for you?

I didn’t know.

I had no idea why I was doing this.

‘How did I become this attached to a girl I’ve only known for four weeks?’

My life had certainly been one in which I often allowed my emotions to take control rather than my reason.

However, even though emotions had governed much of my life, I wasn’t some moth blindly flying into a flame without being able to distinguish the circumstances around me.

There had been times when I had no choice because there was no other way.

Even so, I had always been a man who put reason before emotion.

…..

My father had told me.

Don’t become a hero.
Don’t try to become a savior.

—You have to live a human life.
—Put yourself first.
—Don’t sacrifice yourself for others.

Those were words I had heard so often that they had become ingrained in my ears.

I had accepted his teachings and survived all this time because of them.

But…

‘Save me!
Cain!’

Every time I ignored their deaths as they withered away before my eyes, the guilt crushing me seemed to grow heavier with each passing day.

‘That must have been why I didn’t run away back then.’

It was heavy.

The weight that accumulated every time I cast aside one life after another was so unbearably heavy.

My father, Surd, had lived the life of a hero.

He had taken responsibility for countless lives with the heart of a hero.

He was truly the ideal embodiment of a hero.

Risking his life to save someone.

The lives he failed to save becoming burdens of karma.

Fallen comrades appearing in his nightmares.

What an unreasonable life.
An absurd existence where he was the only one who suffered losses.

‘Because he had lived such a life, he must have wanted to keep me from admiring the life of a hero.’

But I admired my father.

It wasn’t because he was a hero that I admired him.

Because I admired him, he was a hero to me.

Seeing him become a source of hope for countless people and an example for countless soldiers made me even prouder to be his son.

“Well, an adopted son who doesn’t share his blood, anyway.”

“Hmm…”

I smiled faintly as I watched Lilac mumble in her sleep.

I had lived while ignoring the lives in front of me.

I knew it was an absurd wish for a sinner like me to want to save someone.

But.

“I’ll save you.”
“Even if it means I have to die.”

Even so, I allowed myself to hold onto that wish.

The wish that I might be able to save her.

Vwoom…

When I took the sphere out of my pocket, dense mana seeped out from inside the mirror before me.

Holding the sphere, I walked forward.

Step.
Step.

Leaving Lilac sleeping peacefully behind me, I reached into the mirror before me.

Slick.

My hand was sucked inside in an instant.

Allowing myself to be carried away by the otherworldly force pulling at my arm, I turned my head and left Lilac with one final farewell.

“Take care, my friend.”

Drip…
Drip…

Stalactites hung from the ceiling.

Drops of water had formed on their tips.

In the cave illuminated only by gently flickering lamps, Cain rose to his feet.

“It’s spacious.”

He looked at the stone tablet before him.

—Only those who have surpassed their limits will obtain what they desire.—

A simple, concise sentence.

The provocative words, as though announcing a trial, caused the corners of Cain’s mouth to curl up slightly.

“Idiot.”
“Even with all that, you won’t come out yourself because you’re a god?”

A gigantic circular cave.

As he calmly surveyed the far end of the cave, Cain realized where he was.

‘This appearance…’

The stone tablet at the center.

Himself standing before the tablet.

A sentence announcing a test of ability.

When he put all those things together, there was only one thing this cave could mean.

‘An arena.’

Cain placed his hand on top of the stone tablet.

Whoosh!

The moment his hand touched the tablet, countless whispers reached Cain’s ears.

Cain closed his eyes and listened carefully to the voices.

[What?
It’s a human.]
[How did a human get here?]
[Interesting.
Could he be an apostle of the Calamity?]
[But I don’t sense any particular trace of her power from him.]

Boom!

A voice filled with awe that made his instincts submit.

Feeling the overwhelming presence of beings on an entirely different level, Cain drew in a short breath.

“Hoo…”

Cain looked toward the ceiling and shouted.

“My name is Cain!”
“I am Lilac’s friend, and I am the one who intends to break her seal!”
“I have something to ask you!”

[How bold.]
[Don’t tell me he doesn’t know who we are?]
“Indeed.”
“I’ve never seen such an arrogant human before.”
[Friends with the Calamity?]
[Absurd.]
[Has that girl really fallen that far?]

Even their casual banter alone subjected Cain to pressure so overwhelming that he felt as though he would be crushed.

He could never win.

No, he couldn’t even be considered their opponent.

It wasn’t a difference on the level of an ant and an elephant.

It was something far beyond that.

‘Stars.’

An absolute sense of awe, as though an entire world itself stood before him.

If they wanted him dead, he would die.

If they wanted him alive, he would live.

Faced with a difference in stature as insurmountable as a candle standing before a typhoon, Cain felt deep despair.

And yet, he did not kneel.

“Whoo…”

Pull yourself together.

Kill your emotions.

It was a life he had already decided to throw away.

Don’t cling to a life that should have ended long ago.

He was merely repaying what he had received.

Reassuring himself in this way, Cain raised his head.

Ssssss…

The murderous intent of a venomous snake stalking its prey.

Killing a life was not strength.

Strength was merely an additional factor.

‘If I cut it, it dies.’
‘If I stab it, it dies.’

No matter how strong someone was, they would die if they were simply killed.

‘But… I don’t think I can kill these guys.’

He knew he couldn’t win.

He knew any resistance would be meaningless.

However…

“Answer my question.”

Even so, he let murderous intent seep from his body.

Like a snake lowering its head and concealing its fangs.

At the killing intent emanating from Cain’s body, the voices stirred all at once.

[Oh my…]
[What wonderful eyes…]
[I want them.]
[I never thought there would be a human who would look at us with eyes like those.]
[How arrogant.]
[If you had come into my world, I would have torn you apart in an instant.]

The murmuring voices gradually died down after some time, and among them, one voice answered Cain’s question.

[Human, what is your question?]

Cain pointed at the sentence written on the stone tablet.

“This.”
“What does ‘what you desire’ mean?”

Those who surpassed their limits would obtain what they desired.

An opaque reward whose form had not been defined.

How far did it extend?

Was there some kind of restriction?

As Cain placed his hand on the stone tablet while pondering those questions, the voice answered him.

[Everything.]

“Everything?”

[Yes.]
[Everything you desire.]
[Honor, power, strength.]
[It can contain anything you want.]

“Even…”

Ssssss…

“Even Lilac’s freedom?”

[Yes.]

It was hope.

An unbelievable hope.

‘Something’s strange.’
‘The conditions are far too favorable.’

Cain recalled the conversation between the voices from earlier.

Judging from their banter and what he had inferred through the sphere, there had to be an entity that had summoned him here.

Cain fiddled with the sphere in his pocket.

—I want them.

“…Don’t tell me.”

[Hehe…]

“…..”

It was that bastard.

That sweet laugh that seemed to lick his ears.

The dreamy sensation that clouded his mind was far too similar to the voice he had heard from the sphere.

[Then this time, allow me to ask you something.]

The voice presented Cain with two choices.

[If you refuse to take the trial, I will send you back to your world.]
[Back to the world where you can meet your beloved family and friends.]

“…And if I take it?”

[If you do…]

Boom!

[Then an unavoidable death will claim your neck.]

The voice carried absolute certainty.

Cain grinned at it.

“Sounds good.”
“An unavoidable death, huh?”

Crack!
Crack!

The stone tablet began breaking apart beneath Cain’s fingertips.

Gripping the trembling tablet as though he intended to crush it, Cain spoke.

“Tell me.”

Crack!

“What is the trial?”

“Hmm…”
“So you slept well.”

The pure-white goddess slowly awoke.

Through the gap between her dark eyelashes, the blurred shapes of various animal sculptures came into view.

Seeing the sculptures, Lilac smiled faintly.

“Hehe…”
“How cute.”
“They’re so adorable.”

Horses, dogs, cats, moles, and so on.

The cuteness of the intricately carved little stone sculptures gently melted away Lilac’s anxiety.

She closed her eyes and fell into thought.

—You said you’re going to die in a week?!
—Why?!

The anxious black eyes filled with worry.

Thinking of those eyes from that moment, Lilac deeply regretted her actions.

‘I shouldn’t have told him.’

If she had known he would make such a face, she should have simply kept it hidden.

Lilac closed her eyes and recalled Cain’s appearance.

—Who asked you to save me?
—Who the hell asked you to save me, you crazy brat?
—This makes us even.
—Well, you hit me on the head too.
—Smile.
—Smile, you little brat.
—Don’t make a face that doesn’t suit you.

“Pfft!”

At first, she had wondered what kind of human he was.

It wasn’t enough that he had demanded fairness from a god.

He had even struck the woman who was known as an evil goddess.

‘I thought I’d summoned a madman.’

Unfathomable insolence.

Unforgivable blasphemy.

Every single one of those things had been a first for her.

And it was also the first time she had ever experienced the feeling of equality.

Every human knelt beneath the gods.

They worshiped the existence of gods and showed reverence before their divine majesty.

‘It was a relationship formed not through equality, but as master and servant.’

That was how gods and humans formed relationships.

‘…But.’

Cain was different.

Was it because he had no faith?

Was it because he had thrown his life away?

He had dared to present the law of equality to a god without fear.

Lilac was incredibly happy about that fact.

She had once had believers, but her relationship with them had never been one that could be called friendship.

Those who knelt before the majesty of a god and the one who stood above them as their master could never become friends.

That was why the two of them could become friends.

Because he could demand equality before a god.

Because their relationship had not been established as one between master and servant.

And…

‘Because I liked that fact so very much.’

Lilac slowly opened her eyes.

Cain was nowhere to be seen.

She began calling out to him in a lively voice.

“Cain!”
“Good morning!”
“Come over here at once!”

…..

No answer came.

Thinking that perhaps he was still asleep, Lilac shouted even louder.

“Cain!”
“I’ve already woken up!”
“Can’t you wake up too?!”

……

“Cain!”

No matter how loudly she called, Cain’s voice never answered.

Lilac tilted her head at the eerie silence filling the temple.

“…Cain?”

At the altar of Roflerum, where not even an insect chirped, the stone sculpture shaped like a cat rolled toward the bottom of the altar.

Clunk!

Looking at the apples piled up right before her, Lilac murmured weakly in a trembling voice.

“Cain…”
“Where… where did you go?”