I took my hand off the statue.
No, now I know she's not a statue.
"It seems sending the ethereal signal wasn't in vain. If the technology is capable of detecting its wavelength, then at least this isn't the era of Atlantis."
Other statues around him—no, Atlanteans, cooled by Orichalcon—collapse.
It turns into etheric dust and scatters away.
But the statue I touched doesn't disappear.
Because he wasn't human.
“Records.”
"I'm sorry, but counting stopped at 1445238497. The timekeeping protocol is broken. Mr. Buck Buck. No, Mr. Geureojo. No…."
The android maid lifts her broken face and smiles.
“I don’t think that’s your name now, though.”
“Were you lonely?”
"Loneliness is a human concept. More precisely, it's a concept held only by the ancients who created me and by humans like you. But…"
The maid's eyes waver slightly.
“But, I might have been a little lonely.”
The statue of the guard, frozen on the other side of the passage, crumbles with a final sound.
The ethers are liberated.
"The probability is practically nil. By my calculations, it approaches zero. The memories of you remaining here… will bring you back here… and the probability of 'all' of you setting foot here. Furthermore, the probability of the latter must be recalculated from zero."
“But you did it, didn’t you?”
"I guess this is why people buy lottery tickets. Right now, it's really... um, this feeling my AI can't elicit."
“That’s what they call thrilling.”
I look at Aya, hugging the archivist who can't support his body.
“Is it exciting?”
“Yeah, it’s thrilling.”
"I see. I feel incredibly thrilled right now. It's probably a hundred times more thrilling than the central pleasure a couple in love feels during sex."
“Then won’t you die?”
“You’re still the same, now as you were then. You’re eternal… Let’s stop.”
A single raindrop falls on the floor of the last ruin of Atlantis.
No, this is the bottom of the deep sea.
Could it be a leak?
But, it wasn't the waters of the South Pacific.
Tears are flowing from Aya's eyes.
“Somehow, I thought they were good at distributing bread.”
“Ouch….”
“Even when distributing waste, he would eat the bread that was disposed of as inventory. He always gave me the bread with jam in it… Seriously, aren’t habits scary?”
The eyes of the transcendent are filled with tears.
The mouth is smiling.
Damn, if I were a painter, I could paint this scene in a breathtaking painting.
“How many times have we passed by?”
"I don't know."
“I wonder if I passed by it dozens, if not hundreds, of times without realizing it?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“We’re not the first people to have passed through timelines, are we?”
“It won’t be the first or the last.”
“Don’t get me wrong.”
As I and the archivist look on.
The wings of the transcendent spread out, emitting a brilliant light.
The light of the ether is so dazzling that the wings stretch far into the distance like rings of light.
“I loved you, sir, not because I was one day old.”
“Ouch….”
"I loved you, sir, as a woman named Park Aya. Because, every human being has the right to choose their own destiny."
Aya, whose eyes radiate ethereal light, pulls me in with that very posture.
Our faces are as close as the gap between a sheet of paper.
Just enough for our lips to touch.
“I have so much to say.”
“Yeah…yes.”
"When I returned to Atlantis, I never imagined you'd be in such a position. I never imagined I'd have such a beautiful captain of the guards by my side."
“I am.”
Aya gently pulls my shoulder with her arm.
“But it’s okay. Now, not only you, but also Xenovia, are very precious to me.”
“Let’s talk about this….”
"no."
Aya's lips sparkle.
"Masturbating while thinking of you at the convenience store was fate. Wanting to be your onahole was fate. Blushing while secretly smelling your work clothes was fate, too."
“Hey, you never said anything like that to me….”
No matter how singular the singularity, humans cannot overcome the strength of a transcendent being.
Aya's chest is crushing the area below my neck.
The feeling of that chest is so soft….
"I'm truly sorry, but it seems we don't have time to settle down in a sweet new home here. According to my AI's calculations... there's less than four minutes left. It's not about being busy anymore, it's about being…"
"no."
Haru, no, Aya, looks at the archives.
“Only me and ‘her’ can call me ‘uncle.’”
“I understood immediately. I am a robot that understands quickly.”
The archivist moves his eyes and smiles at me.
“Mr. Kim Geon-woo. You have three minutes until that guy wakes up.”
“That guy?”
The seal that supported Atlantis, the Orichalcon, is gradually disappearing.
The orichalcon coolant that supported the ceiling and passageway began to melt one by one.
In between, a mouth deeper than the deep sea appears.
The last stairs leading down to Apgujeong Station.
In other words, it is a temple that serves some forgotten god.
“Goddess Anat.”
“We can’t let him live. He’s the one who made me and Xenovia like this.”
“Resentment is one of the forces that enables humans to survive.”
“And… if we leave him alive, he’ll try to gather ether again and ascend to the Universe of Voices. I can’t let that happen.”
“Even as we speak, time passes by….”
The mutterings of the archivist seem to be inaudible to the transcendent being.
“So, I’m going to kill him here.”
As soon as Aya finished speaking, the last entrance leading down to Apgujeong Station was destroyed.
Amidst the shattered concrete and cement debris, the passages of Atlantis collapse together.
From now on, Chungmu Kimbap is only 10,000 won! Please order via DM only. Rude customers are not welcome! A banner is torn down.
Through the gap in the huge pupil, a huge shadow entangled in dirty wires crawls out.
In all directions, the remains of dirty ether, unable to leave or settle, flow like oil.
Anat, the forgotten goddess wearing a mask.
“MORTALAAAAHHHH!!!”
"I'm sorry. Even machines tend to break down after a while. It came out about a minute earlier than I calculated."
“After crossing the timeline of eternity, I meet you guys again!”
“That’s the sound I hear as soon as I wake up. It’s not very pleasant.”
“Thankfully, it seems I was born as a being steeped in ether!”
The Great Hall of Atlantis shakes and makes a loud noise.
Between the slit pupils, the goddess slowly crawls out, her ugly body stretching out.
Sticky black mucus creates small lakes around us.
“This time, after I absorb you all—I will ascend to the level of the voice!”
“That’s a disease. According to my data, that’s it.”
"It was I who truly loved him! Not his voice! Me! It was me, Anat!"
Black tentacles writhe and spread around us.
“It’s God!”
The tentacles extend out.
I move my fingers and search for thoughts.
As expected.
"what?"
Anat's tentacles block my path with a squeaking sound.
The transparent guards of Atlantis are holding back the tentacles with their shields.
“Records? Remember what I said earlier?”
“You’re saying this isn’t the time to start your honeymoon?”
"no!"
This time I move my left hand, waving my fingers as if I were conducting an orchestra.
"bouncer!"
Anat screams.
However, even that tentacle is blocked without any luck.
Foreigners who visited Atlantis.
Carthaginians, Athenians, Egyptians, Hittites.
Those few thoughts, all joining forces, are supporting the tentacles.
Anat's two largest tentacles twist like a captured baby octopus.
“How dare you!”
“Resentment is the power that enables humanity to survive.”
I look at him with a smile.
They are not evil spirits.
It must have been just frustrating.
Because it was kept asleep under the sea for a long time without any reason by a being that called itself a god.
now.
It's time to get our grudges resolved.
“Ouch!”
Aya flies above it with her wings spread.
“Don’t mess with me! I’m God!”
Other small tentacles, dangling from the monitor, rush towards Aya.
But the transcendent's gestures are faster and smoother.
Not a single drop of the tentacle's mucus reaches her.
“I am God!”
The eyes behind Anat's mask shine.
“Sir… No, Mr. Geonwoo. It’s the same old pattern.”
“Mind control!”
Anat's waves reach Aya.
“Damn it… That’s not something I can avoid.”
The Transcendent One lands near Anat with its wings spread.
“Hahaha… Hahahahaha! In the end, nothing changes! No matter how much you struggle, you are nothing more than insignificant mortals! I am a god!”
Anat turns her head and looks at me and the archives.
"Now! Kill me! With your own hands, just like you did back then, you'll kill the man you love the most!"
The transcendent being who landed raises his head.
I see.
Dazzling golden eyes, a beautiful glow behind her hair.
And the beautiful shimmering halos of light, split like the Nazca lines.
“Zenobia!”
"What? Mind control doesn't work, you idiot?"
All beings are one person in one body.
But, there was someone who was not like that.
Two minds in one body—one body that gave up on regression.
Transcendent.
“Mister. Mister. Yes, Mister.”
The angelic queen is shedding tears.
“I found it.”
“Xenobia….”
“Sir, I have so much to say… that I could spend a thousand days and a thousand nights talking about it.”
I don't have a hobby of making a woman cry twice a day.
Ekejax begins to shout in response to his master's momentum.
All the surrounding ethers are drawn towards her.
“But, let’s postpone it a little.”
“Two personalities in one body… A transcendent being who gave up eternal life?”
“Because, I also have a grudge against this guy!”
The Queen of Palmyra soars into the sky.
“I am God! Do not resist me!”
Anat deploys all her tentacles.
“No way!”
I put my hands together and gather the thought forms.
Anat's first tentacle is captured by the Atlantean sailors.
The second tentacle is captured by the guards.
Another tentacle is being held by merchants from Egypt.
The last tentacle is held by the priestesses of the far east.
All of the goddess's arms are completely captured.
“I am a god! I am not a mortal being! I am a god!”
Anat's body tries to create a new arm by drawing out the ether oil again.
The Transcendent One has already flown up to the very nose of the Goddess' mask.
“I am God….”
“This belongs to the Atlanteans.”
Ekejax cuts off the goddess' left shadow.
“Gyaaaah!”
“And this is for the slum friends!”
“Heeeek.”
“This is Grandpa Menedu’s share, this is Ganyang’s share, this is the share of the citizens of District 3, this is the share of the friends of the Mu Empire, this is the share of the uncle!”
Some of them don't seem to be dead... Ouch.
Let's not sweat the small stuff.
Ekejax tears the goddess apart with a sound like the wind rushing.
The shadow of the goddess is torn into small pieces, like a piece of jerky.
“Haaaah!”
“And― this.”
The transcendent being stands before the goddess's nose with his wings folded.
Anat's mask shatters and flies far away.
The ugly, sticky face of a forgotten god reveals itself.
Somehow… to me, who has seen the voice in person.
That face looks a little like hers.
No, maybe it was like that in the past.
That's how it felt.
“This! It’s for me and Haru… no, Aya!”
Ekazax roars like a lion and pierces the face of the goddess.
“I am God… I am God… I am God… I am Godaaaa!”
“Oh, you are a god.”
Zenobia lands beneath the goddess, sword still in her grasp.
“Idiot.”
“Kiyaak!”
Anat's body twists and makes a noise.
It begins to collapse with a loud noise, as if a huge old tree is collapsing.
The ethers that couldn't escape flew in all directions with a loud noise.
“I am a god… I am a god….”
Zenobia, holding Ekejax, stands tall before the last remnants.
“Don’t like it… you insignificant mortals….”
“….”
“Anyway, you will never reach your sister’s throne… because we are the ones chosen by Him… You will never….”
The Ekejax cuts through the sticky debris with a cool sound.
“It’s over.”
The black ether disappears as if blown away by the wind.
As a signal, the thought entities that helped me also scatter away.
Because Anat died, the medium of resentment disappeared.
and.
Zenobia collapsed to the floor, her strength drained.
“Zenobia!”
Since I was directly hit by the goddess's ether, it's only natural that I would feel exhausted.
I ran and hugged her.
“Aya said.”
"what…?"
“You and Aya have made memories together for years.”
“….”
“But, I haven’t seen you in such a long time… I’ve finally found you now…”
In a ruined country, there was a captain of the guard.
She, known as the Sword Saint in the Wall, has passed through countless timelines and worlds.
In the desert where there was no one, I fell asleep crying alone, hugging a sword.
He dragged his aging body across the desert and fell asleep in the scorching heat.
In the bitter cold of the land where no one would welcome me, I fell asleep shivering without even a blanket to cover my body.
And every time she falls asleep.
I had a dream that was fading away.
The uncle's dream.
"So. Today, I want to have a slave, or rather, an uncle. Aya gave her permission."
"okay."
"This isn't a dream, is it? This isn't some kind of voice trick? This isn't some kind of illusion. Right?"
“Oh, this is reality.”
“Yeah, it’s real.”
The black star inside the wall sheds tears without making a sound.
The timeline of eternity flows.
in the end.
Love has found its place.
“I won’t sleep well today.”
“You must be incredibly sleepy, right?”
"Because when I wake up, you might disappear again. When I open my eyes, I might have to live alone in a world without you. When I wake up, you were just a dream again... I might be crying alone in a land where no one is!"
“Zenobia.”
The black castle in the wall, and the queen.
She looks up at me with shining eyes that have lost their luster due to tears.
“I’m not going anywhere now.”
"mister…."
“I am here. I am by your side. And now….”
The strength of the hands that hold each other becomes stronger.
“I will always be by your side.”
"mister!"
Our faces, with awkward and happy smiles.
So towards each other.
"I'm truly sorry for speaking out loud. I don't want to do this either. I'm not a robot designed to say things like this. But I can still enjoy the joy of reunion, passionate kisses, and obediently making babies later."
The archivist raises his still arm and points to the ceiling.
“I guess I have to get out of here.”
Because of the disappearance of the Orichalcon coolant and the cracks that spread in all directions as the goddess died.
The last ruins of Atlantis begin to shake.
As if an earthquake had occurred in the deep sea.
I look at the ceiling while hugging Zenobia.
Already a huge crack is spreading in all directions.
Beneath us, too, it begins to shake violently.
“As soon as possible.”