Meanwhile, Henelion, who had received the prophecy from Seianes, was deeply troubled.
“Revenge…… That must be referring to Ircadeon, right?”
When sorrow wets the earth and children return to the soil…… the wrath of love? Was this directed at him? Suddenly thinking so, Henelion touched the area near his chest. Why was he reminded of the lover whose heart he had swallowed long ago?
[You love me this much.]
Yes, surely that must mean Ircadeon was coming here. Since it said revenge would begin again, yes, that must surely mean Ircadeon would descend upon this land once more to take revenge on him.
To build up his power and steal his position.
“Oh, no, absolutely not.”
Henelion, who had received the prophecy, bit his lips.
He had always had a vague anxiety that Ircadeon would steal his position, but this was the first time he felt chills so eerie they made him shudder like today. And it wasn’t only because of the content of the prophecy he received this time.
Currently on the Surface, worship of Ircadeon was growing to an extent that frightened Henelion.
Gods gain power according to the domain they govern or the faith of the humans who worship them.
And Henelion, who ruled the Surface and light, was an absolute existence who received more worship from humans than the great gods of domains with absolute authority like emotions, life, and time.
However, in recent years, humans had begun to increase their worship of Ircadeon, who ruled the afterlife and darkness, rather than Henelion, who ruled the Surface and light.
The Surface land that Henelion ruled was no longer a paradise.
The once bountiful earth. Humans who lived in harmony with nature, establishing their own cities and serving the gods.
However, as they became stained with war and greed, selfishness and avarice, in the minds of humans, the fear of death and the afterlife grew larger than the importance of their current lives.
In their fear of the afterlife, they began to worship Ircadeon more, who ruled the land of the dead deep underground.
May their dead parents be at peace in the afterlife, may those who went first be able to smile there in the afterlife. The more humans worshipped the dead and that land, the more Ircadeon’s power grew.
To the extent that it now threatened Henelion’s position.
“No, absolutely not.”
His mind went blank like a white sheet of paper.
How much sacrifice and cost had there been to wage war with Ircadeon and send his forces to the land of the dead in order to rise to this position?
It was a position he had obtained by pushing his own younger brother underground, betraying his lover, and driving his children and comrades to death. He couldn’t lose the position of king of the Surface that he had obtained by any means necessary so futilely.
He had to find a way somehow.
He feared Ircadeon, who would build up power and come to the Surface. What should he do to prevent him from descending upon this land? Before that, what measures must he take to prevent Ircadeon from growing his influence and power further?
Complex thoughts tore through his mind. At that moment, the heart that had been still beat again and spoke in a soft voice.
<Block the path.>
The lover Henelion had placed in his heart in the past.
The lover who had always gently soothed him still didn’t spare wise advice from within his heart. Henelion felt his mind clearing at the voice that easily solved even complex problems.
‘The reason Ircadeon’s people are increasing is because of the souls of the dead. Sleep is the path leading to death. Dreams are the door to the land of the dead. Because those two exist, a door to Ircadeon is created. So capture and block them.’
It was truly reckless and foolish talk.
A thought the previous Henelion would never have entertained. Rather, he would have tried to make the Surface more bountiful so that the living humans would worship him more, thereby solidifying that power.
An absurd illusion that couldn’t even be called wise.
Nevertheless, Seianes was listening intently to the voice whispering from his heart.
There was no way his heart would say anything harmful to him. His lover loved him and never spared advice. Thanks to that, he had maintained his position as king of the Surface until now.
“If it’s your words, I have no doubt.”
‘Yes, my love. I am always on your side.’
Without needing to think, everything was solved by simply doing as his heart instructed.
So this time too, he would follow his heart’s words.
There was no way his heart would speak falsehood.
“Make sleep and dreams up in that sky unable to sleep eternally.”
Looking at the junction connecting to the sky, Henelion called the goddess who had been quietly hiding behind him.
“You have to do it. Understood, Epynis?”
Epynis, who had been listening without missing a word of the conversation Henelion was having with his heart, nodded silently.
Even without explanation, she knew well what her father wanted.
“Yes, Father.”
However, in her heart, an inexplicable anxiety was taking root.
Was it truly right to follow her father’s command?
Though she usually didn’t go against her father’s words, this time alone, a disturbance was rippling in her deep inner self. Her father was no longer as wise and benevolent as before.
The sight of him caring for human lives had long since disappeared. He stubbornly held banquets and only showed himself indulging in pleasure and amusement.
Should she truly follow her father who had changed now? She was merely a goddess serving as her father’s servant. For her, interfering with their sleep was a great challenge, so she hesitated, wondering if there was a reason to follow her father even while bearing such risks.
Then she soon shook her head and changed her thoughts.
‘No. As my father’s child, I have a duty to follow whatever my father says.’
Even if what he did drove this Surface to destruction, she had to follow. That was her fate and the reason she was born. Thinking was a luxury.
The goddess who bowed her head left Henelion’s palace with the grave mission.
Above the sky, she saw a river made of starlight illuminating the boundary between life and death.
The current flowing in the river was the path of the dead. Those who drew near to death fell asleep, walked along the current in their dreams, and finally met the door leading underground.
Quietly watching the path the dead walked, the goddess walked along with them.
Some souls dropped out midway, unable to let go of their lingering attachments, while there were also souls that shook off their attachments and resolutely accepted death.
Walking the path together with them, she finally saw the door between the vast river.
Countless souls naturally entered through that door, but that was not her purpose.
“……”
Below the river in the vast cluster of stars, siblings sleeping peacefully.
Confirming the siblings dreaming a dream that would never wake, she raised a great spear to wake them.
“It’s time to wake from sleep now.”
With those words, Epynis swung her spear and drove a cold, sharp piece of ice she had been holding into the heart of the sleeping goddess.
“Ah.”
The sharp ice that pierced the goddess’s chest settled deeply in her heart. At the shock and agony felt within, her heavily closed eyes opened and a sharp scream burst from her mouth.
“Ah. Aaaaah!”
Almost simultaneously as she opened her eyes, her younger brother woke from his dream.
“Noona!”
The startled younger brother tried to comfort his crying older sister clutching her heart, but the piece of ice already lodged in her heart clung painfully within her and wouldn’t come off.
“Heok, urk…… Aurk…… Save me.”
The goddess of sleep, Lyriet, began to writhe, clawing at her chest.
She felt like she would go mad because of the ice piece stuck coldly. Even when she tried to find the cause of who did such a thing, she looked around searching but couldn’t find them. Epynis had already left the place before Lyriet woke.
