A deep abyss. A dark chasm.
A place where life breathes in silence. When the underground gate opened and a dark red light seeped into their kingdom like sunlight from the surface.
Ircadeon, the King of the Underworld who had hidden at the very end of the long abyss, rose from his throne. Then the underground giants standing in formation before him moved.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A magnificent rumbling spread throughout the entire underworld.
And the people trapped underground raised their heads proudly and looked up at the surface through the gap in the door where light poured in.
“Has the time finally come?”
At the king’s words, Alphera, who had been frozen in place, nodded. Her wrinkled hands reached toward the air.
As if drawing the flow of a grand destiny, her fingers swayed and moved like a dance in the air.
“Yes, yesss…. My lord. That’s right.”
She deliberately didn’t say what she had seen. Because if she carelessly revealed it, the future might become twisted. But this much she could say for certain.
“Everything will be according to your will.”
That everything would be resolved according to her master’s will. At those words, Ircadeon laughed. A smile drunk on terrible victory spread across his face.
“Yes, good. Good. Soon it will be time to go meet my child.”
Rising from his throne, he looked up at the sky. The one massive entrance that existed in his castle. A single ray of light was transmitted through it. The gate leading to the surface, and the sunlight. Now it was time to go greet him. It was time to meet his child again.
* * *
Meanwhile, Abrisius looked around with a dumbfounded expression.
Though he had walked aimlessly, he had no intention of coming this far. Not knowing that his footsteps had come here on their own according to the Power of Desire, he couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“Why am I here?”
This was clearly a place Seianes had earnestly begged him not to go. It was only natural to be startled at having unknowingly set foot on such land.
“I need to go back quickly.”
He shouldn’t be here. Before worrying about being scolded by Seianes, an ominous premonition that he shouldn’t be here for some reason crept over him.
The abnormality occurred faster than Abrisius could leave.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A sound so loud it seemed to pierce his ears came from the very depths of the contaminated earth. Despite the noise that shook his eardrums, the earth was as quiet and peaceful as a mouse.
As if nothing had happened at all.
“What on earth is this sound? Why here.”
While Abrisius hesitated, sensing the trembling of the underground earth, the Power of Desire that had opened the underground gate took effect, and soon a massive entrance opened wide in the ground.
Red light soaked the contaminated earth.
The land that had lost its original master welcomed its master and absorbed that power. Whether it was withering further or if this was its true form—part of the land Cairens had restored returned to its contaminated state.
With the clattering sound of hooves, a massive horse with ebony-like fur and a black carriage appeared.
And the one who drove it, an existence that shouldn’t be on the surface.
“My child.”
The king of the very bottom who had fallen to the lowest depths of the abyss revealed himself on the surface.
“We finally meet.”
His long, flowing black hair fluttered as his red eyes deeply captured Abrisius.
“Ah.”
Though it was a face he was seeing for the first time, Abrisius instinctively realized who he was.
“Ircadeon.”
“Oho…. You know me?”
That name he had unknowingly uttered. At Abrisius’s voice calling him, Ircadeon’s eyes gleamed with interest as he smiled coldly.
The moment he saw that smile, his heart pounded.
“How are you here? You shouldn’t be in this place…….”
He couldn’t believe it. How could he be here? If he carelessly appeared on the surface, Henelion and the other surface gods wouldn’t leave him alone.
He blinked, wondering if it might be a hallucination, but he was still standing before Abrisius.
“Right, I shouldn’t be here. But what does it matter? You called me.”
“What did you say……?”
“If you’re worried about being caught by Henelion, rest assured. At least on this land, his eyes will be blocked.”
Incomprehensible words confused his mind.
“What does that mean? I never called you…….”
Abrisius trembled under the overwhelming pressure.
Reason in his head was screaming at him to run away from this place immediately and rush to Seianes.
However, his underground instinct engraved in his body as one born underground made him move toward Ircadeon.
“You’re afraid, aren’t you? But don’t be afraid.”
As if glimpsing such turmoil in Abrisius’s heart, Ircadeon’s eyes curved gently.
But within that face existed a terribly cold underside. There was no way Abrisius couldn’t perceive that underside.
“I made your flesh with my bones and flesh, and made your heart with my blood. We are connected. I am your father and you are my child.”
Murmuring affectionately as if soothing a child, he descended from the carriage.
Rustle, rustle.
Every time his footsteps touched the ground, the grasses that had lost their light made sounds. That sound flowed like a prelude foretelling the threat to come.
Soon a cold hand touched Abrisius’s cheek. Like a father who had finally met the child he missed, his touch was very gentle and tender.
“I wouldn’t harm you, would I? Unlike Henelion who has countless children, you’re my only one.”
Every word whispered in his ear was affectionate, but within it existed a terribly cold underside. There was no way Abrisius couldn’t perceive that underside.
“……Why did you come here?”
“I told you, you led me here. You have the power to open the underground gate.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.”
Abrisius couldn’t understand a single thing Ircadeon was saying.
Even though he had memories of the original story, even though he knew he was his father…. Despite that, he couldn’t understand any of the things he was saying.
“You don’t need to know. But, you see…….”
Bending at the waist, he met Abrisius’s gaze.
“You seem to have some worries, am I right?”
Seeing through his feelings, Ircadeon’s red eyes captured Abrisius’s dark red eyes. Abrisius’s eyes rippled in surprise.
Seeing the red color in those wavering pupils, Ircadeon smiled softly.
“So, can I know what the reason is?”
Feeling uncomfortable as if his innermost thoughts had been seen through, Abrisius pulled back slightly. But the more he did, the closer Ircadeon approached him.
Like a caring father trying to solve his beloved son’s worries.
“……Do I need to tell you that?”
The end of his words trembled. A sense of rejection toward Ircadeon. But his instinct was responding to him. Whether it was a child’s primal feelings toward a parent or an inherent imprint flowing in his body, he couldn’t tell.
“You don’t need to tell me. But. I can listen to that small worry of yours. I am your father. Listening to my child’s worries and giving him solutions is also something I must do.”
Abrisius would probably never know until the very end that those worries had become the light that opened the underground gate.
A desperate wish. A desire he wanted to fulfill. Seeking its solution, Amina’s power transcended past, present, and future and led Ircadeon to the surface.
Everything was going according to plan.
‘Still, red eyes would be more beautiful.’
Revealing his regret inwardly, Ircadeon’s hand gently brushed Abrisius’s eyes.
“Your worries, your problems. Tell me everything. I can grant them all.”
“……Everything?”
At the sweet whisper, desire rippled within Abrisius. Even knowing he shouldn’t be swayed by his words, his heart wavered and kept turning toward Ircadeon.
Finally, the lips of Abrisius, who had lost his reason to desire, slowly parted.
“I…… want to love.”
“Love?”
As Abrisius uttered his desperate wish, Ircadeon’s eyes flashed as if he had been waiting for it.
