106
Set didn’t look at his phone for a long time after seeing Yeon Ji-ho’s picture. He only searched more desperately for Yggdrasil, where the god was said to exist.
If Set hadn’t met Yeon Ji-ho, Set Gorgon probably wouldn’t have believed in the word “fate”.
The word “fate” didn’t suit a man like Set Gorgon at all. Moreover, he didn’t believe in words like chance, destiny, or connection either. If each person had their own predetermined fate, then the fate of the human called Set Gorgon was far too…
Far too much the path of a villain.
Set sometimes had such thoughts when he saw Hadad. That everything was ultimately guiding him. Although he was born empty-handed, he was born with the fate to grasp everything, and even if he sometimes made mistakes and suffered hardships like a human, he ultimately accomplished what he set out to do.
Set had never once envied that. Like a sailor navigating the vast sea, he just drifted along. Not knowing whether he was moving forward, backward, or sinking deep into the sea.
“…Ji-ho.”
So Set realized. That to meet Yeon Ji-ho again, he needed “fate” like Hadad had.
“Apophis. How far has the gate progressed?”
“Your Excellency, still… We need a bit more time.”
Set’s emotionless eyes looked down at the gate blueprint Apophis was drawing. The blueprint, not even one-third complete, had more blank spaces than drawn parts.
If he just waited for this gate to be completed, it would take at least six months. No, even if he waited that long, there was no guarantee that he could really cross dimensions.
After silently looking down at it, Set finally turned his back. He left Apophis’s workshop, which was just a tent set up next to the caravan.
The caravan was currently stopped near a secluded forest inside the capital Asterra. The reason they could enter the capital with such a suspicious caravan without any problems was because the country was in chaos after the emperor’s disappearance.
“Emperor…”
Set gazed at the sky, lost in quiet thought. His cheeks were so gaunt they looked sharp. His mind was filled only with Yeon Ji-ho, and he didn’t care how much his own body had deteriorated.
From then on, Set started walking aimlessly. After walking for who knows how long, Set’s feet reached the village nearest to the forest. It was a village where a faint smell of burning could be sensed from somewhere.
“Damn it. The sparks just had to fly that way.”
“These days, mercenaries do whatever they want. They camp in our village without permission, and this is how fires spread!”
“Who doesn’t know that right now?”
Conversations in irritated tones brushed past Set’s ears. It seemed like a fire had broken out nearby.
However, Set only stared with empty eyes at the people rushing around carrying water buckets. He didn’t feel the need to help them. Being born as a villain, how could he have such kind thoughts?
Crack!
At that moment, a burning branch flew towards Set’s forearm. The spark that grazed his forearm left only a faint black mark as it rolled on the ground.
“Come on, everyone move quickly!”
“We must extinguish the fire before it spreads to the forest!”
Set, who had been slowly alternating his gaze between the black mark on his forearm and the fire that people were busy extinguishing, hesitated for a moment. Then he took one step, two steps. He approached that huge fire.
But as Set approached, the fire seemed to flicker even more. Set’s eyes began to grow larger bit by bit. A large fire was also kindled in his eyes, which had been completely empty of life. Set unconsciously reached out towards the flames.
“Hey, be careful there!”
Just as the fire was about to touch Set’s hand, with a hissing sound, the fire in that area was extinguished. Someone who saw Set must have thought it was dangerous and poured a bucket of water over him. Now, only dark and murky ashes remained in front of Set.
Seeing the bright red fire turn into black ashes, Set took a deep breath. Then he turned around. At first, he walked slowly, but at some point, he started running. Before long, Set was able to arrive in front of the parked caravan.
“Apophis!”
Set approached Apophis, who happened to be outside, and grabbed both his shoulders. Apophis, much smaller in build than Set, staggered for a moment but soon regained his balance and looked up at Set.
Set’s eyes were somehow shining with life. Unable to guess the reason, Apophis felt somewhat uneasy. At that moment, Set opened his mouth.
“I need to die.”
Apophis blinked, unable to understand what he had just heard. Although Apophis wasn’t a nobleman and couldn’t attend the academy, he was a talented individual who had studied magic professionally at the magic tower and had never missed the top rank. This brilliant-minded Apophis stared blankly at Set and asked back, unable to understand his words.
“…Pardon?”
“Tie me up and light a fire under my feet. I need to die.”
“Your Excellency, what on earth are you saying?”
Set’s eyes were breathing with life unprecedentedly since he parted from Yeon Ji-ho. This made Apophis even more anxious. It seemed more fitting to think that Set, having lost his mind without Yeon Ji-ho, was now trying to commit suicide.
“When I first met Ji-ho, I was being executed, engulfed in flames.”
“Yes… That’s right.”
“I want to repeat that moment. If it’s fate, it will guide me to Ji-ho.”
They were already all dead, but if someone in his family had turned into a fanatic and was trying to convert him, would it feel like this?
Apophis judged that Set was gradually going insane. How could he believe in such an absurd fate and throw away his life? However, his words didn’t reach Set.
Set, twisting his lips into an expression that could be either a smile or anger, said with a heavy sigh:
“Even if I’m wrong, it doesn’t matter, Apophis. If I stay here like this… I feel like I’m going to go crazy.”
“Your Excellency.”
“Bugs are eating away at my head. When I close my eyes, Ji-ho calls out to me for help, and when I open them and spend the day unable to do anything, pain that makes it hard to even breathe comes.”
Set raised his trembling hands and covered his face. Perhaps he really had gone mad, as Apophis said. Maybe he was just deluding himself that if he jumped into the fire wanting to die, he could go meet Ji-ho.
But he wanted to do at least that. It felt like only then could he breathe. Even if he had to live his entire life with his whole body burned black and barely breathing, it seemed better than now when he couldn’t see Yeon Ji-ho.
“Kill me. …No, save me…”
Set’s head bent down pitifully, bowing his neck.
“Save me.”
It was the first time Set had pleaded so desperately to his subordinate, Apophis. To Apophis, Set was like a rock of a superior. He was a man who wouldn’t erode even after decades or centuries.
Such a man was now pleading to Apophis, even bowing his head. Not knowing how to handle this situation, Apophis just ran his tongue around his mouth, forcing out saliva that wouldn’t come.
It was then.
“Your Excellency!”
A burning piece of kindling fell on Set’s head. If the surprised Apophis hadn’t pushed Set’s shoulder, it would have hit him directly.
As Apophis picked up the fallen kindling from the ground, he saw Isquis running hurriedly from behind.
“Apo, Apo! Are you okay?! Y-Your Excellency! I’m sorry.”
“What is this?”
“Huh? Oh, well…”
Isquis, hesitating, glanced towards the front of the caravan. There, a portable gas burner was set up. With a pot on top, it seemed he was about to cook something.
“I wanted to eat ramen, but the fire wouldn’t light well… But why did it fly over there? That’s strange.”
Apophis listened to Isquis’s words with a blank face. In fact, it was strange. Although Isquis was clumsy, he had been in the military for a long time and didn’t make such dangerous mistakes.
Moreover, just a few days ago, something similar had happened. Even Apophis himself had made a magic mistake he had never made before, summoning fire instead of water.
Apophis, who had been silently lost in thought, finally opened his mouth. He didn’t avoid Set’s eyes looking down at him.
“I understand, Your Excellency.”
“…”
“…Shall I prepare the stake?”
Set slowly nodded. In case he might jump out due to the pain after entering the fire, he intended to be tightly bound so he couldn’t resist at all before entering the flames.
Just like the day he was executed by Hadad.
