It was so enormous, its snout looked like it could reach the sky. Every time Fenrir snorted, flames burst forth. Though ropes like thick cords were wrapped around its neck and legs, the beast didn’t seem the least bit hindered by them.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come… I’ll gnaw your bones to powder and swallow them down my throat. I’ll tear you to shreds until no flesh remains, gouge out your eye sockets slowly, and make you regret being alive in your filthy little worm-like bodies.”
With a face twisted in savagery, Fenrir growled. As it spoke, sizzling acidic drool dripped onto the sand, and its giant eyeballs twitched grotesquely. Instinctively, I took a step back. The aura it exuded was nothing short of vile and horrifying.
But Baek Tae-beom stepped in front of me as if it were nothing, drawing his sword. With one arm hanging loosely and a slouched posture, he looked up at the monstrous beast.
“Then I’ll make your head into a trophy mount.”
“What did you say?”
“I said I’m going to make a taxidermy mount out of your head. Are you deaf now, too? I’ll cut off your head, just as it is with that cute and adorable-looking collar, scoop out the useless noodle-like brain inside, and stuff it with cotton.”
Fenrir’s face contorted in fury. A rumbling breath escaped its nostrils. It seemed the very fact that someone dared talk back enraged it.
“You’re the same kind as those who bound me!”
“If someone managed to leash and tie up a huge, dumb dog like you, they must be truly impressive. Should I say it’s an honor to meet someone that notable?”
“You wretch!”
Fenrir exhaled violently. The force of it felt like it could blow our bodies away. I looked at Baek Tae-beom nervously, but he simply smiled at me as if to say it was fine, then turned his gaze back to Fenrir.
Right… that approach.
I, too, decided to provoke Fenrir.
“Wasn’t it your own stupidity that got you tied up in the first place? You walked right into a trap just to show off your strength.”
“Wait, aren’t you provoking it a bit too much?!”
In the prophecy of Ragnarok, it was said that Fenrir would kill Odin. The gods, afraid of this, tried various methods to bind Fenrir.
First, they suggested testing his strength by tying him up with a rope. Fenrir easily broke free. Then they brought out a much stronger and thicker rope, but he still broke through that with ease.
So the gods resorted to trickery. They sought out the dwarves and requested an unbreakable cord. The dwarves forged a delicate ribbon called Gleipnir—thin as a thread, yet impossibly strong.
Sensing the magical threat in the cord, Fenrir demanded a condition: someone had to place their arm in his mouth as a gesture of trust, so that if he couldn’t break free, he would have some assurance. The war god Tyr stepped forward and placed his arm in Fenrir’s mouth.
Naturally, Fenrir couldn’t break the cord, and Tyr lost his arm. Though Fenrir was furious, the gods only mocked him further.
At my words, Fenrir let out a growl drenched in rage.
“I’ll tear you apart and devour you!”
Fenrir writhed in the sand and began approaching us. It was so massive that even a simple movement felt like it could swallow us whole. But that was precisely what we wanted.
Lee Myung-won, flustered, tried to fire his bow, but I stopped him. Just like that, in an instant, we were engulfed in the darkness of Fenrir’s mouth.
“Cough… Sand got in my mouth.”
I coughed briefly and looked around. It was so vast, I couldn’t believe it was the inside of a beast’s mouth. If someone were to furnish it, they might mistake it for a slightly dark room.
[CH.#32fas91/One Who Will Burn the World: See? All you did was hasten your own death.]
[CH.#32fas91/One Who Will Burn the World: Hahaha! You look absolutely pathetic!]
Ugh, so damn loud.
<Constellation Communication Net> really needed a mute function.
[CH.#32fas91/One More Dazzling Than the Sun: This is why idiots who skip the first episode don’t know anything.]
Apollo clicked his tongue in disapproval. He seemed to realize right away how we planned to escape.
But there was something we had to do first.
“Tae-beom, Mr. Lee Myung-won. I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
“Well, maybe not a favor—more like something I’d like your help with…”
***
Kang Si-hoo descended slowly from the sky. His robes fluttered. The white sands swirled in the wind, floating up into the air. The man, landing gently atop Fenrir’s head, stared down at the beast with unfocused eyes.
‘Is it dead?’
Was he too late? That was the first thought that crossed his mind. Alongside it came a bubbling mixture of relief and disgust from deep within his body.
Conflicting emotions. The invasive touch of Angrboda that dominated his mind clashed again and again with Kang Si-hoo’s original feelings. Trying to gather his thoughts, Kang Si-hoo took a slow, slightly ragged breath.
Angrboda gleefully kneaded the inside of his mind. She knew full well that Kang Si-hoo couldn’t resist her. Even if he harbored rebellious emotions, there was nothing he could do about it. If anything, she took delight in his misery.
Look at the people torn apart by your hands. Look at the sins you commit. Kang Si-hoo was dragged about like a puppet strung by the emotion of vengeance Angrboda had planted in him.
Lately, however, that interference had started to loosen. Perhaps Angrboda believed she’d gotten all she could out of him, even allowing thoughts like these to surface—something she would never have tolerated before.
And that only made it more painful for Kang Si-hoo.
The man slowly brushed his hair back. His crimson eyes fixated on Fenrir’s corpse.
Fenrir’s death had always been part of the plan. It was no more than a pawn to buy them a little time.
What mattered was…
Choi Ga-hyeon.
What was he up to?
Kang Si-hoo knew full well that his resentment toward Choi Ga-hyeon was absurd. He could feel it—no amount of blame directed at Choi Ga-hyeon would change anything. What he was doing now was nothing but a path to self-destruction.
But even knowing that—trying to change it…
Would it change anything?
Kang Si-hoo knew he’d come too far. There was no turning back, and only the world’s destruction remained. And so, he couldn’t resist anything anymore. He simply accepted the helplessness Angrboda poured into him.
A selfish excuse.
He didn’t care if people pointed fingers at him. If everything was doomed anyway, then letting the world end wasn’t such a bad outcome. No—in fact, the world had to be destroyed. If only to erase this wretched guilt.
His body was being consumed, bit by bit, by Angrboda. Only a hollow shell remained. Kang Si-hoo wasn’t even sure if he still had a soul left inside him.
“He must’ve gone to the lab.”
The man muttered under his breath and took a step forward—only to be swallowed by a sudden collapse beneath his feet, offering no chance to resist the bizarre pull that surged up to consume him.
“……!”
His vision flickered. A powerful force yanked him into Fenrir’s corpse, striking him from the nape of his neck and down his spine. Instinctively, he reached for his sword—but his hand was stopped, and his face slammed into the ground.
“Kgh.”
Just as he lifted his gaze, he caught a glimpse of Baek Tae-beom’s face. Kang Si-hoo’s body tensed momentarily—then went limp. He realized, on a primal level, that even if he tried to fight now, he wouldn’t last long.
‘Why’s he still here? To capture me?’
A reasonable assumption for Kang Si-hoo to make. Considering that Kang Si-hoo had once tried to take Hel away, it was only natural to assume he’d also come to personally release Fenrir’s collar.
“Huh, not putting up much of a fight, are you?”
Kang Si-hoo reflexively turned toward the voice, but the motion only made the chokehold around his neck tighten, drawing a pained grunt from him. Choi Ga-hyeon stood over him, looking down with an unreadable expression.
Kang Si-hoo scoffed.
“…What? You expected me to struggle like some slaughter-bound beast?”
There was no reason left for Kang Si-hoo to resist.
“Kind of.”
“If you’re going to kill me, then just do it. That’d be in your best interest anyway—ugh!”
“Just hear me out. I’ve been thinking about this a lot.”
What the hell was he rambling about now?
Kang Si-hoo couldn’t understand. He finally looked directly into Choi Ga-hyeon’s eyes.
And what he saw there—looked like a flicker of madness.
‘Why am I only seeing that now?’
“When this day came, I always said I’d be the one to end you.”
“…….”
“But the more I thought about it, the more something felt wrong. Hunter Lim Chang-joo’s condition got worse because Angrboda was interfering with him, right?”
“…Yeah, and?”
Choi Ga-hyeon curled his lips into a faint, crooked smile.
“Then doesn’t that mean I might be able to do the same?”
“What?”
“Hold on, Choi Ga-hyeon. What do you mean by that?”
Lee Myung-won asked urgently, as if none of this had been agreed upon beforehand. Baek Tae-beom’s grip around Kang Si-hoo’s neck also loosened slightly. But Kang Si-hoo didn’t even think to flee—he just stared blankly up at Choi Ga-hyeon.
“You keep running from your sins. Under the name of vengeance, you’ve killed countless people, and even that wasn’t enough—you want to destroy the entire world. But even if I kill you… would that really change anything?”
“What the hell are you talking abou—”
Choi Ga-hyeon knelt before him and gently swept back his hair. Kang Si-hoo shuddered. In his eyes, clear as day…
There was affection.
‘Why?’
‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
As if he had been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time.
“You need to take responsibility for what you’ve done in the name of vengeance, Kang Si-hoo.”
“No, no… Wait. Just wait….”
But before he could say anything more, a crushing numbness spread through his head. He couldn’t move a single finger. The tangled knots inside him began to slowly unravel, one by one, colliding with something deep within. Bursting. Being scraped away. Pouring out. That was the only way to describe it.
[The Constellation ‘Bringer of Sorrow’ is attempting to—]
.
.
.
[The Constellation ‘One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction’ whispers to you.]
