The Foreigner on the Periphery

The surface of the lake rippled quietly.

Del sat on the grass, gazing at the landscape before her.

Lush trees surrounded her, and the wind carried the fresh scent of grass. The atmosphere was peaceful, but her inner landscape was dark and turbulent in stark contrast. Her reflection on the lake's surface rippled and shattered.

Del and her companions had been staying on this planet for several days now—the world once called the Committee Headquarters.

Those who traced their ancestry to creatures of ancient lakes and damp, deep forests cultivated their environments by instinct even long after becoming civilized.

Their homes didn't strictly need to be built by lakes or within forests, but they found peace of mind in similar landscapes.

This resting space was the result of that instinct—a vast wilderness virtually untouched by civilization.

Yet, Del guessed that the residents who had crafted this space would struggle to find peace now, no matter what scenery they looked at.

Especially if they witnessed the sight unfolding before her right now.

"Whoa! Whoaaa! Run!"

"We're caught! Caught! We're gonna get caught!"

A spectacle was unfolding out there—one that anyone ignorant of the context would mistake for a space monster battle.

Out on the plains just beyond the tree line, a dragon sprinted, making the earth shudder violently with every heavy thud.

Just ahead of it, bronze flying entities flailed their tentacles as they darted through the air, desperate not to be caught. They had shed their usual human-fist-sized forms, swelling their bodies to roughly a third of the dragon's size.

Without context, one might assume the dragon was hunting those tentacle monsters in a battle to the death.

But in truth, they were just having a blast playing together.

"Yay! Catch us! Catch us if you can!"

"Whoa! He's spreading his wings again! Everyone, fly higher!"

The dragon sprinted across the plains, building momentum.

Because of its immense size, the trees surrounding Del only obscured the distant creature's feet, leaving the rest of its movements entirely visible.

Chasing after the five or six tentacled entities, the dragon's eyes suddenly gleamed with resolve.

In that moment.

Flap!

Del watched as the dragon spread its three pairs of wings wide and took to the sky.

Flap! Whoosh!

It wobbled unsteadily in the air for a moment before catching its balance and surging forward.

It was only yesterday that it had finally managed to fly, even with such obvious effort.

‘Now that's starting to look like a proper dragon.’

When Minjun had first rescued Asif-500, its limbs and wings had been severed.

Even after they regenerated, Asif-500 hadn't been able to walk or fly properly for quite some time.

But once the situation on the planet settled down and he was let out into the open fields, he quickly began to relearn how to move. The tentacled children sent out alongside him helped immensely with the process. It was like physical therapy combined with playtime.

Del still vividly remembered the look on Asif-500's face when he first laid eyes on these plains.

The dragon had muttered to himself for a long time, completely overwhelmed. Roughly summarized, his monologue was about how he had never imagined a star could be just as beautiful up close as it was from afar.

‘Well, I should probably get going.’

Del actually had no obligation to watch over them.

The only reason she had spent time here was to steady her complicated thoughts. She wondered if she just needed some vicarious satisfaction.

Because to her eyes, they looked like the happiest people on this entire planet right now.

...Excluding the priests who could artificially generate ‘pleasure’ at will, of course. If one were to count only the genuinely happy people, that is.

"Grrr?!"

At that moment.

Asif-500, who had been fully engrossed in playing tag mid-air, suddenly whipped his head around.

And then.

Whoosh!

He immediately began to glide down toward her.

A few of the children tried to follow him, but someone held them back. It was one of the three currently playing the ‘king’ in their game.

Thanks to that child, Asif-500 managed to get a brief moment alone with Del.

Thump!

As he folded his wings and touched down, a strong gust of wind sent dirt and grass flying. Del fixed her windswept hair and offered the dragon a warm smile.

The dragon greeted her first.

"Are you leaving already?"

Del was the person who had spent the most time talking to Asif-500 back when he couldn't even move his own body.

While the fleet was on the move, she had visited the dragon frequently, driven by her own guilt.

"Yes, it's about that time. I need to go see Cain."

The dragon tilted his head.

He let out a heavy snort.

Then he spoke, offering a suggestion.

"Would you like a ride?"

Del didn't laugh at the offer.

Despite being nearly a thousand years old and possessing a massive frame on par with an Ancient Dragon, Asif-500 possessed a mental state that Minjun had labeled ‘abnormally innocent.’ He had spent his entire life imprisoned, completely devoid of any socialization.

Offering a ride to Del, who could easily travel anywhere with a single Teleport, was much like a human child who had just learned to ride a bicycle. Intoxicated by the achievement, the child would eagerly offer a ride to anyone they saw.

"No, it's fine."

She was about to say her goodbyes, but then added, "It's good to see you like this. You can finally fly around wherever you please."

At that, Del didn't miss the subtle shift in the dragon's expression.

It suddenly amazed her that she had become so adept at reading a dragon's emotional state.

Come to think of it, the main reason was probably because she had traveled alongside Ha Eunseong while he was possessing a dragon. That reminded her... where on earth was that poor soul wandering right now?

Shaking away her straying thoughts, she asked, "Why the sudden change in expression?"

"...Well, I was just wondering if it's really okay for me to be like this."

"What do you mean?"

The dragon hesitated before speaking.

"Even though God has forgiven me, I am still a sinner, aren't I?"

"..."

"I can't help but wonder if a dragon like me truly deserves to live so comfortably in such a beautiful place..."

Del felt a sudden surge of anger welling up inside her.

It wasn't directed at the dragon, of course. She would soon be seeing the one who truly deserved her fury.

"I don't think so."

"Pardon?"

Del had heard all about what happened when Minjun rescued him.

And she could easily guess exactly what her ex-partner had been thinking when he brought up the concept of ‘forgiveness.’

"Cain only told you what you needed to hear—what you wanted to hear. He never actually thought of you as a sinner."

"What do you mean by that?"

Back then, Asif-500 had refused Minjun's order to stop brainwashing the prisoners.

He had believed it was all part of his rightful punishment.

And so, Minjun had declared that he would forgive the dragon's sins.

He did it solely to convince Asif-500 that he didn't need to be punished anymore.

"Mother..."

She cut herself off and changed her choice of words.

"The King of the Endelions said that your only sin was being born a dragon, didn't he?"

"Yes, that is my oldest memory. The voice whispering into my mind, telling me that I was a horrible sinner."

Del felt that rage boil up inside her chest once again.

"This sin that was forced upon you—if such a thing even exists—isn't the result of any immoral act or pain you willingly caused others. It is merely a burden placed on you from the very moment of your conception."

Del saw nothing but terrifying disgust in a Mother King who would brand an unhatched dragon with the stigma of sin.

An existential sin, not one based on action.

"They call that original sin..."

Original sin had to be strictly distinguished from sins born of moral failings.

Del tried to find the simplest way to explain it. From the perspective of an atheist, it was a suffocating religious concept the more one thought about it.

What made her even more sickened was the fact that a leader of her own race had weaponized such religious dogma just to brainwash a dragon.

"I don't believe in such things."

"...Pardon?"

"I mean I don't believe in the concept of original sin."

Del considered it nothing more than a malicious illusion.

"You didn't get to choose what race you were born into. Something you have no control over and no power to change can never be your fault. Therefore, it cannot be a sin."

Del looked the dragon dead in the eyes as she spoke.

Although Asif-500 had spent an agonizingly long time brainwashing the prisoners, it had practically been out of his hands.

"You were never forgiven by God. You didn't have any sins to begin with. You can't forgive a sin that never existed in the first place, can you?"

Of course, that didn't mean Minjun's actions had been meaningless.

"Of course, the fact remains that Cain rescued you—that he saved you. Cain's compassion is what brought you out of there. You should definitely remain grateful to him for that. But you need to let go of this ‘original sin’ the Endelions forced upon you."

Even after hearing Minjun's declaration, the dragon had clearly failed to escape his deep-rooted guilt.

He believed that even though he had been saved, he still had no right to forget his sins.

The moment she had heard him confess that, Del felt so frustrated, so heartbroken, and so incredibly angry that she thought she might go crazy.

She didn't want the dragon to spend the rest of his life living like this.

It was obvious. He was the victim here.

If the perpetrators refused to carry the emotional burden of their crimes, there was absolutely no reason for the victim to suffer from guilt.

"I'm telling you that you don't need to deny your own existence. You've done nothing wrong. Here, look at those children over there."

Del pointed toward the direction the dragon had just flown from.

The Endelion children, left to their own devices, were busy inventing a new game and dividing themselves into teams.

"Since the day they were born, those children... they were branded as non-people. Not because they did anything wrong. It was simply because they were created for a specific purpose. Because of that, they were almost subjected to something terrible once they grew up. Again, there was only one reason for it: because they were born that way."

If being consumed as material for body renewal was a sort of ‘punishment,’ then their only crime was being born. That, too, was an existential sin.

If she acknowledged the dragon's original sin, she would also have to accept that those children were destined to be murdered for the sake of others.

Del couldn't do that.

"I heard Yumtus offered to give you a name, but you turned him down."

The dragon nodded, looking a little embarrassed.

Yumtus likely believed it was highly inappropriate to keep calling a sacrificial dragon—one who had been saved by God—by a prisoner's designation.

But Asif-500 had refused. The reason was exactly what he had just confessed to Del. He believed that being called by the proof of his sins for the rest of his life was the only way to never forget them.

"Don't you want a name?"

"...I do think it would be nice to have one."

His face was filled with shame even as he admitted it.

"Then let's make one for you. Whatever you want it to be."

Del gently urged him once more, telling him not to feel ashamed for wanting something so natural.

The dragon pondered for a long time before finally speaking.

Regardless of his actual mental age, he had spent his entire life communicating with people who actively despised him. Because of that, his speech patterns were incredibly stiff and formal.

"By any chance."

He paused, hesitating for a long while.

"Would you... name me yourself?"

   *

A short while later, Del stepped inside the building that the Committee's high-ranking officials had used as a bunker.

The damage sustained during the invasion had been hastily repaired, and the internal layout had been fully remodeled to serve a new purpose.

Yumtus panicked the moment he saw her.

"H-Holy Mother!"

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

Yumtus's head whipped back and forth in a panic, his eyes darting between Minjun and Del. Asiph-1 also looked away with an uncomfortable expression.

A brief silence hung in the air.

Minjun was the first to speak.

"I told you it'd be better if you didn't watch this."

Minjun was about to begin a specific operation with Asiph-1.

It was essentially a preview—a miniature version—of the long and arduous task that lay ahead of them.

He had strongly advised Del to stay away if at all possible. But she had ended up coming anyway.

She spoke.

"I believe I bear some responsibility as well. ...The responsibility to see this through to the end."

"I can't guarantee that today is going to be the end."

"At the very least, it'll be the beginning of the end."

Minjun sighed lightly.

In truth, her presence here wouldn't get in Minjun's way, nor would it change the outcome of the operation.

It was just...

He simply didn't want her to see this.

‘...How strange. Why am I hesitating?’

Lately, the primordial race kept ruminating on the meaning of those eight hundred-some years spent living as a prisoner—such a brief fraction of time in the grand scheme of things.

"Fine."

He allowed Del to stay. He turned his head and gave a brief nod. Yumtus stepped back and began operating the control panel.

Screeeech!

Slowly, the wall blocking their path slid away.

Beyond it lay a vast, cavernous space tens of kilometers in diameter. It was an enormous underground hollow, constructed entirely without a single supporting pillar.

And right in the center of that space, a massive entity entered Del's line of sight.

"..."

Del realized she was clenching her fists so tightly that her knuckles had turned completely white.

Sssss!

The giant, island-like entity slowly peeled its eyelids open. Del couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight.

A single Endelion was bound within the center of the room.

The natural skin of their race was deeply dark and bluish, almost reminiscent of bronze.

And yet.

‘My god!’

The skin of the Endelion strapped before her was stained in sickening shades of pink and crimson.

Del realized with mounting horror that the entity's body had been completely ‘cooked.’

It didn't look like it had been burned by fire, as there were no scorch marks. Any ordinary creature would have died long ago, but its Endelion vitality kept it barely clinging to life.

In reality, it was the result of being trapped in an enclosed chamber and subjected to ultra-high temperature steam for a prolonged period.

Moreover, Del knew exactly who this sinner was.

"...Mother!"

The next moment.

Flash!

Minjun and Asiph-1 abruptly vanished, only to reappear standing atop the Tentacle King.

The god asked his son.

"Will it work now?"

The Pope closed his eyes and concentrated his mind. Immediately, the king's grounded body began to tremble violently.

A moment later, Asiph-1 shook his head.

"It's still not enough."

Del immediately understood the unspoken context of their conversation.

Even before she arrived, Asiph-1 had clearly been attempting to dominate the king's mind. But he hadn't succeeded.

Why now?

‘He explicitly said he had no intention of brainwashing her. So what made him suddenly change his mind...?’

Minjun muttered in a low voice.

"I suppose that means we need to subject her to more pain to break her mind."

Minjun gestured toward Yumtus at the control panel.

Only then did Del take a closer look at the surroundings of the king's prison. It was a dome-shaped cavern with a sunken basin for a floor. Large holes dotted the ground everywhere. Were they vents for air circulation? No, they were far too massive for that.

Perhaps it was a system meant to flood the chamber with something, or drain it out? Or maybe... it cycled between the two...

Just as a wave of dread washed over Del, Minjun gave a curt order.

"Start it."

At that exact moment, liquid metal erupted like violent geysers from every hole across the tens of kilometers of the chamber floor.

"You've all worked incredibly hard! I dedicate this glory to every member of our great race!"

   *

The Tentacle King was very satisfied.

‘How long has it been since I felt this kind of peace?’

The single word that best represented the Endelion psyche was ‘anxiety.’

Having been born with twenty-six tentacles, they were doomed to suffer from it their entire lives, even when there was no clear reason to feel anxious.

And naturally, any anxiety born of a tangible threat tormented them far more cruelly.

Now, the problem that had been fueling such terrifying fear was finally resolved.

"Congratulations!"

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