Apollo grabbed me and said seriously,
“Are you insane?”
“That reaction makes it clear how much you hate my decision.”
“Why don’t you just go ahead and announce to the world that you’re a Constellation? Want me to put up an ad in the subway? Hang a banner for you?”
Apollo towered over me, glowing brighter than anyone else. With golden eyes, lavish blond hair cascading to his shoulders, and features so statuesque it was only natural to call him a god, he looked like a work of art draped in airy cloth. If he hadn’t been scowling with narrowed eyes, I might have mistaken him for a wax figure—meticulously crafted and utterly untouchable.
Standing beside him was Anubis—taller than Apollo, jackal-headed, his muscular torso exposed. The golden ornaments adorning his deeply tanned skin suited him well.
The only reason they could remain in their true forms was thanks to Baek Tae-beom, my contractor, who’d enthusiastically expanded the size of my soul while I was dead.
Not that that was the issue.
The real problem was that I was being scolded by these two—no, two Constellations.
But seriously, where had this overprotectiveness gone off the rails? Judging from the vibe, it felt like my parents were about to yell, “What do you even know?” and I should be storming out of the room.
Too bad this place was my Sanctuary of the Soul.
More importantly, why were these two Constellations even here, waiting for me? Why didn’t they just go back to their own realms? What, did they have no one else to pester?
“Are you even listening to me?”
“Yes, yes. I’m listening.”
“Doesn’t sound like it. You’re still dumb.”
Anubis crossed his arms, his defined muscles prominent. Being in this pure white space—with nothing but a mattress and a bathroom—while facing two full-grown men who looked like gods felt oddly out of place.
“Can’t you both just shrink back to palm-sized? That’d be way more comfortable.”
“So you really weren’t listening at all?”
Apollo gave an incredulous laugh.
“You need to understand what danger is. Last time, you were dawdling around, all dazed and wide-eyed, and ended up getting strangled and stabbed, remember?”
Wide-eyed and dazed? I shot back indignantly.
“When was I ever like that?”
“Which is exactly why you got yourself killed so easily by that dog-brained bastard.”
“Dog-brained?”
Anubis raised his brow—well, the tattoo that resembled one—clearly displeased, but Apollo remained unfazed.
“Would you prefer I called him a birdbrain instead?”
“You have a tendency… to excessively disparage others. Apollo. That kind of behavior… can lead to consequences—”
“Both of you, just shut it and go home, will you?”
“Even when we’re trying to protect you! Do you seriously think we’d let you have a one-on-one conversation with that kind of Constellation bastard in the first place?!”
Apollo yelled, and I let out a sigh. It was draining—knowing they were being this overbearing out of concern for me.
“Is it because that Constellation is the kind you’re talking about… the kind Apollo means?”
“Exactly. He’s the kind of dumbass who genuinely believes he’s a real god. You never know what someone like that might try.”
Apollo seized my wrist.
“With arms this damn skinny! How do you expect to handle this alone and then tell us to leave?! And anyway, wasn’t that whole Monster Calamity caused by that same dog-brained bastard?!”
“If you keep… calling him dog-brained like that…”
“Then tell the bastard to bash his head in!”
“All right, fine, Apollo. Calm down. I won’t go alone. We’ll face him together, okay? So let go of me.”
Touching a Constellation in their original form felt distinctly unpleasant—like my personal space was being violated.
Apollo must’ve known that, because he let out a huff, released my wrist, and snapped his fingers.
A lavish golden chair appeared out of thin air.
He dropped into it with a flourish and crossed his legs.
“You’re seriously going to sit there like that?”
“I am indeed.”
Realizing they truly weren’t going to leave, I crossed my arms and said,
“We’re only going to talk.”
“Understood.”
“No causing trouble or picking fights. Got it?”
“I’ll consider it.”
I almost applauded that ironclad resolve. But before I could—
[Someone wishes to visit your soul.]
[Do you accept? Yes / No]
I had to respond to the knock.
It wasn’t so much that a crack opened, but that space itself was being torn apart.
From the rift that spread to the ceiling, something with blue skin slowly stepped through.
A towering figure—easily three meters tall—dragged its oozing, blood-matted brown hair as it twisted its neck unnaturally and blinked enormous eyes.
The cloth it wore was utterly ruined, soaked in mud and torn flesh, serving no purpose at all.
Drip. Drip.
An unknown liquid fell onto the floor. Watching it stain the pristine white space, my first thought was—who’s going to clean that up? The next was: what the hell is this thing standing in front of me?
I’d loved mythology ever since I was young. My house had tons of books on it. That interest never faded, and eventually, I even read novels like The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World.
But even having read The Apocalypse Chronicles of Another World, I couldn’t identify this being. There was an overwhelming, uncanny pressure radiating from it.
She was like a myth built from the stacked corpses of something long dead.
Anubis let out a low hum.
Yes. What I felt from this being was excessive alienation.
Could something like this exist? Could you really feel a presence like this?
“You…”
The voice from the giant was ageless—like that of a crone, a young woman, and a newborn infant all at once.
“You… the one who twisted fate…”
Stooping forward, the woman slowly extended her hand. Shadowy cloth coiled around her fingers as they stretched toward me, drawing closer as if to strangle me at any moment.
Her hand halted right before touching my face.
As if she didn’t want to touch me. Or perhaps she couldn’t.
Either way, I exhaled the breath I’d been holding and looked up at the giant.
This space that felt so vast to me seemed almost unbearably cramped for her.
A blue-skinned giant.
The possibilities for her identity had narrowed.
“I want to speak with you.”
I looked straight into her eyes as I spoke. Her pupils were lifeless—like those of the dead.
“Speak…”
“Why did you approach Kang Si-hoo, your contractor? What revenge are you seeking?”
“Hee.”
A putrid stench wafted through the air. The giant pointed at me with one finger, whispering in a voice like metal scraping against metal.
“Little god. Budding in your tiny world. I came to fulfill what was promised. To become the destroyer of the Final War.”
“The Final War?”
“Why do humans always insist that revenge has no worth?”
The giant slowly scanned me with her dead eyes. A shiver ran down my spine, like a snake’s tongue had brushed my cheek.
Unable to grasp her meaning, I stared at her desiccated frame and said,
“Kang Si-hoo. I’m asking about Kang Si-hoo. What is your purpose in approaching him?”
“Humans hold no value. They are merely parts of a meal for our children.”
“I’m asking about Kang Si-hoo.”
“You, the one who twisted fate. The one trying to block it. But you will accomplish nothing. The day will come.”
And with that, the giant pointed at me once more. Her long fingernail was curved like an old man’s spine.
“The outlaw who twisted fate and changed Kang Si-hoo’s life. If not for you, everything would have proceeded as it should. You’ve altered countless lives.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“Yet the world still desires you. It uses you to tip the scales.”
She lifted my chin with one rotten claw. The sickly sensation of her touch crawled across my skin.
Twisting her decayed lips, she gave what looked like a smile.
“Do you know what that means?”
“……”
“It means you’re different from that dog who guards the human afterlife and that idiot musician who spews useless prophecies. You… can become a real god.”
“That ‘idiot musician who spews useless prophecies’—you’re talking about me, aren’t you?”
Apollo, still seated in his chair, grumbled irritably.
“This is why I can’t deal with beings from that mythology. They’re all soggy, gloomy, and make everything feel gross.”
“Apollo?”
He stood up and suddenly stepped in front of me, covering my eyes with his hand. Startled, I called his name, and he hushed me softly.
“What do you see?” he asked gently.
“What do you mean, ‘see’? Of course I don’t see any—”
I shouldn’t have seen anything. But I did.
Something connected me to that mountain-like figure before me—something like a cord. It looked like an artery, tethered directly to the heart.
“What… is this?”
“It’s already taken root.”
“Root?”
“This is how those who truly believe they’re gods infest others.”
Apollo lowered his hand from my face and continued.
“That thing has already rooted itself in Kang Si-hoo and is partially controlling him.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Yes. Literally. Isn’t that right, Angrboda?”
Angrboda.
The name flashed through my mind.
“Hermes was right.”
Apollo pulled me back, away from the giant.
“Apollo, what are you talking abou—”
“Ha… hhah, hh-haha…!”
The giant let out a grotesque laugh and suddenly flung her arm forward. Her hand missed me by a hair, piercing straight into the floor.
From her decaying form—now clearly called Angrboda—black tendrils burst forth, slithering across the walls, ceiling, and floor.
[The Constellation, ‘One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction,’ is synchronizing with the Holy Vessel.]
Looking at that decomposing blue skin, I understood without doubt—
The lover of Loki, mother of Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel.
Bringer of Sorrow, Angrboda.
