The Foreigner on the Periphery

Crackle! Crackle!

The cabin of the order's battleship.

Despite being indoors, golden sparks struck like lightning. Dong-cheol watched warily as they twisted and spat threatening embers.

He knew instinctively: someone was trying to force their way in.

The goblin drew on the power to move faster than anyone else. Once he readied himself, the surrounding scenery shifted into slow motion.

A rift slowly appeared in the empty air where the sparks had flashed. The gap grew larger, bit by bit, until—

Rip!

What looked like a human hand thrust out from inside it.

Only then did Dong-cheol understand the golden lightning. Some unknown force was blocking the Teleport of the person reaching through.

The moment he resolved to draw the pistol he had carried on him every day since that incident—

'Ah?!'

Dong-cheol realized just how absurd the thought was. He had no need to point a gun at this person, nor should he.

Even setting aside necessity or justification... this was not an opponent a simple handgun could handle anyway.

Two hands tore the rift wide open. By the time the intruder's wrists, arms, and shoulders emerged, Dong-cheol was looking into a darkness that surged and spread like the ocean. A fiery red light followed.

Only one person appeared as that kind of entity to his eyes.

'Master?!'

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Minjun's face appeared through the spatial rift.

His voice was cold.

"What exactly are you doing here?"

Crackle!

The sparks vanished the instant he pulled himself completely through. The cabin was filled only with the golden light radiating from Fourth. Minjun saw that the flash had intertwined with Asiph-1, forming chain-like links.

"I asked what you are doing right now."

Dong-cheol, who had been frightened enough to answer, snapped his mouth shut. Minjun's question was aimed at Asiph-1.

"..."

His son gave no reply. Minjun felt unusually flustered, a feeling mixed with a creeping sense of frustration.

There was no way he could have missed the miracle witnessed by the entirety of Earth. After pinpointing the source, he had chosen the most efficient method of travel. Instead of crossing the sky, opening the Mothership's doors, and walking through the corridors, he had intended to Teleport directly into this room.

Yet, surprisingly, that simple task had not been easy.

Something had clashed with his Magic, repeatedly pushing him away.

'The Divine Power filling this room was the obstacle.'

He approached Asiph-1. The pope remained expressionless, staring at Fourth without blinking.

Minjun raised a hand to grab his shoulder.

Just then.

Crackle!

"Agh!"

The goblin screamed. Sparks far more intense than before erupted inside the room.

It was as if they were stopping anyone from interfering with Asiph-1.

Minjun pulled his hand back. Even after the violent reaction, Asiph-1's body was perfectly fine, without a single speck of soot on his clothes. He just remained frozen like a statue.

On the other hand.

Sizzle!

Minjun's hand was scorched pitch-black. White smoke rose from the skin. Seeing this, the goblin's jaw trembled as he spoke.

"M-Master, are you... okay?"

As if feeling no pain, Minjun looked down at his burned palm with a calm expression.

Then, he muttered inwardly.

How long has it been since I was injured?

But that thought only lasted a moment. By the time he looked back at Asiph-1, the completely burned tissue had flaked away and new flesh had sprouted. A member of the primordial race, whose body was filled with dragon blood, could recover from this level of injury in an instant.

"...!"

Minjun glared beyond the barrier he could not cross. A demon-like expression settled on his face. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, Dong-cheol could not bring himself to speak.

Minjun made his judgment.

'Asiph-1 has no Divine Power. That guy is the culprit.'

His gaze shifted.

He turned his eyes toward Fourth. The golden light was bursting out of the priest, binding Asiph-1.

'I do not know what is going on, but it certainly does not look good.'

Asiph-1's current state was practically the same as being bound and paralyzed.

'Has he been attacked? To save him, I have to deal with that priest.'

Just as he made that decision, Dong-cheol spoke up, having seen the red light coiling around Minjun's body stretch out in a long tail toward Fourth.

'Is he actually going to attack him?'

The goblin yelled out in a panic.

"W-Wait a minute!"

Slowly, Minjun's head turned.

He could not understand why this guy was here, but saving Asiph-1 had been his first priority, so he had put the question off. Now, that delayed conversation began.

"B-Before you attack... p-please let me speak..."

"...Explain everything as calmly, thoroughly, and quickly as possible. Depending on your answer, I might have to kill that half-blood dragon right now."

The goblin thought he knew why Minjun was so angry.

Frying Pan had said that Asiph-1 was Minjun's son. Could that actually be true? And what was this about a half-blood dragon?

Regardless, from Minjun's perspective, it certainly looked like Fourth had done something terrible to Asiph-1.

Dong-cheol felt a cold sweat run down his back. Stammering, he did his best to begin his explanation.

To save the life of the man he had met for the first time today.

*

Asiph-1 thought.

His meeting with Fourth and Dong-cheol on the street today was definitely no coincidence.

The statement that three important people had gathered was deeply significant. That is, if he had truly become an entity that transcended time and space.

Wait, come to think of it...

A question flashed through his mind.

"If you transcended even time, why did Divine Power not manifest in the distant past?"

At some point, Asiph-1 had started addressing him with formal respect.

"Father said he had never seen the supernatural abilities of a priest until he fell asleep."

At that, the man who had become a law of the universe spoke.

"As I already told you, it is because I did not completely surpass time."

"But you clearly said that you exist everywhere and at all times."

Omnipresence. It was a dizzying concept just to think about.

The voice replied.

"For a better understanding, it would be best to distinguish between existence and manifestation from now on."

"Do you mean that you exist in all time periods, but there are restrictions on your manifestation?"

"I exist even in the time before the primordial race fell asleep. However, I cannot entangle with the hearts of the people from that era. As a result, the field where I flow in that time period remains silent; it does not rise. Since it does not well up, the power also fails to materialize. I suspect the cause creating this difference is Talent."

Asiph-1 understood those words. At the same time, he recalled Alext's words, which had sounded like an auditory hallucination earlier.

"The temporal Territory before the gods began to dream...!"

If he replaced the word 'gods' with 'the primordial race', the meaning made perfect sense.

"Yes. There are many parts in their doctrines that the bishops interpreted as they pleased, but somehow, that sentence alone was close to the correct answer. Talent filled their blood vessels after the primordial race went to sleep. I think that is the cause. In other words, Divine Power cannot manifest in a time period without Talent."

"Then conversely, it means that Divine Power will continue to manifest in all future time periods!"

If the universe were to gain eternal life, it was only natural that the time yet to flow from the present onward would be far greater than the time that had passed so far.

Considering that Divine Power had transcended even time, the potential this power harbored was truly close to infinite. Reaching that thought, Asiph-1 felt his body shudder.

"If so, are you—is the power known as Divine Power not akin to omnipotence?"

If that were true, wouldn't the true omnipotent being be the soul that serves as the source of that power?

Tracing it back to its roots, Minjun and Asiph-1 were the ones who provided the cause, but the two of them actually had no influence over it.

The answer that returned was firm.

"Not at all. I am neither omniscient nor omnipotent."

"But realistically, if you exist in all times and places since my father fell asleep, doesn't that mean you know of every event there?! And if it is a power that responds by transcending space and time, there would be practically nothing impossible..."

"Do not forget what I said at the beginning. I exist everywhere, but I manifest in a limited way, like bubbles. My ability to intervene in reality and perceive events is only possible when I become entangled with someone else."

Asiph-1 was briefly at a loss for words.

"Then, your ego..."

"Just as electromagnetism or gravity has no ego, the same applies to me before I bubble up. I only regain my ego in a time and space where I respond to someone's faith. Like right now."

"Ah!"

"But in fact, the vast majority of them... for instance, Fourth cannot perceive me. He only induces the manifestation of power; we cannot hold a conversation."

"I suppose I am special."

"Because I reflected myself through you. As the entity most similar to me, only you can be my mirror."

Hearing those words, Asiph-1 felt a sorrow so sharp it felt like his chest was being slashed to ribbons.

He knew that once this conversation ended, the other party would return to being something non-human. He would sink back down as a fundamental law, unable to be perceived by anyone, unable to communicate with anyone.

However, there was no time to express such emotions.

"It is time to get to the main point."

Asiph-1 had more he wanted to ask.

"Wait a minute, then... what does it mean for minds to entangle? If you can only exist as a person when that condition is met beforehand, how on earth can we make you a complete person again...!"

"I know what you are thinking. But the premise itself is impossible. If I were omnipotent, I would have already done it."

"Ah!"

A tragic gasp escaped him.

"And to answer your question... you can think of the entanglement of hearts as a sort of 'empathy'. It means understanding the other person, even if imperfectly. Let us end the questions and answers here. There is something I want to ask of you."

Asiph-1 still could not see the other entity. Light was all that filled his surroundings. He wanted to interrupt, but the meaning firmly pierced his mind.

"Each of the three people gathered here has a very important role to play. First, you are the messenger. Your role is to convey the will of the 'power' spread throughout the universe to the people. Because only you can understand my words."

Having been a bridge between god and humans, Asiph-1 felt an indescribable emotion at being asked to act as the bridge for a law of the universe as well.

"And Fourth... while he cannot be called the most powerful Divine Power user in the history of the universe, if we narrow the condition down to this current time period, he fits the bill well enough. Therefore, he will be of help to you."

"Help, you say...?"

"Have you forgotten already? You have to prove it. To your creator, who the source of the Divine Power is doesn't matter, right? What matters is whether the Divine Power is useful to him."

Caught in the unpredictable rapids of this conversation, Asiph-1 realized he had momentarily forgotten his original purpose.

"Yes, let's prove it. Prove that he does not need to become a god who orders the extermination of a race. We are going to prove the 'alternative' he so desperately wants."

Asiph-1 felt his throat choke up.

"Is that your will... and the will of the 'people' you have merged with?"

Instead of answering, the light gently conveyed a feeling akin to a smile.

After a brief silence.

The soul that had become the source of the holy power spoke.

"Fourth's power is already blanketing the entire planet. The particles of light he has scattered are seeping into the bodies of all people on Earth. Let us run a little experiment in this situation. For that to happen, one more person needs to intervene..."

Following that, the voice explained what Asiph-1 needed to do for his creator.

The son of god etched every single word into his mind, determined not to miss a thing.

And after all the explanations were finished.

"...That is all. It is not difficult, is it? Do not worry about forgetting. You will remember everything anyway."

"W-Wait a moment!"

Asiph-1 instinctively felt it. The time allowed to him ended here. Although the other party was a being that had transcended time, he himself was not.

He cried out desperately.

"I must apologize to you!"

"..."

Once again, a meaning like a gentle laugh rippled through the empty air.

The light enveloping him continued to emanate a warm emotion, but Asiph-1 did not settle for that. Instead, he knew he could not miss this opportunity. There was a high chance this would be the first and last time.

Asiph-1 voiced the agony he had harbored for so long.

"I... committed a sin against you!"

There were various motives behind his active participation in Minjun's holy war, but among them was his desire to cast off the chains of guilt as quickly as possible.

He believed that they had to win this war in order to rescue the ghost trapped in Elahu-Praga.

But when all the fighting actually ended, that soul had gone missing.

The reality was not that he had disappeared, but that he had transformed into an entity spread across all space. Yet, because he could not be perceived, it was as if he did not exist.

Because of that, Asiph-1 felt he had to speak now.

"I killed you, an innocent person!"

A tranquil resonance immediately returned.

"It would be best to stop there."

"...?!"

Was he refusing to even hear his words of apology?

Asiph-1's face contorted in agony.

"Because our minds are entangled right now, I can tell that you weigh your own sins heavily. I also understand that you are truly repentant. Nevertheless, I cannot forgive you."

Asiph-1 felt a sense of despair, and the voice immediately explained why.

"You cannot forgive what you cannot punish, and you cannot punish what you cannot forgive."

"What... do you mean?"

"It means I have no right to punish you, nor do I have the right to forgive you."

Asiph-1 found it difficult to understand.

"There are sins that can never be forgiven under any circumstances. That is... when the subject who could forgive you no longer exists."

"...?!"

But aren't you and I facing each other and conversing like this right now?

Asiph-1, who was about to point that out, lost his words again.

"Right now, I am not the human youth in his twenties whom you murdered. I have already merged with too many others, and I have become an entity that knows and feels so much more than the 'me' from back then. If we strictly talk about cause and effect, 'he' gave birth to you, and you pulled the soul from my body. If you had not killed me, I could not have become the source of the power called Divine Power."

"However, can the cause and effect of these events justify your actions? Because everything went the way it was supposed to in the end, could I convince the traces of the youth left inside me to forgive you? To a human whose only goal was to live earnestly alongside his family, can you force satisfaction on the grounds that he has become a being transcending space and time?"

"The 'me' as a law was completed by your karma. For this version of me to forgive you is an insult to the human Ha Eun-seong of the past. Because the only person with the right to do so no longer exists in this timeline."

The voice was calmly pointing out that there are sins that can never be undone.

"Then, what should I...?"

"Whether you give up on atonement entirely because you cannot be forgiven is a choice for you to make. Whether you assign meaning to an effort that will never be answered, or not, is also your choice."

He was saying that he had no intention of dictating how Asiph-1 should live or what he should feel in the future.

"Furthermore, you have already killed countless people aside from the human Ha Eun-seong. Do you think there wasn't even one more truly innocent person among them? Whether you will assign meaning to each of those acts or not is also for you to judge."

At first glance, they sounded like harsh words.

But Asiph-1 could not sense any emotional hostility in that resonance.

The fading voice spoke one last time.

"If the agony preceding those choices leads you to become a better person in the future... I could not condemn even that. Now, go. Go and watch the scene where your creator grants Brother Dong-cheol's wish."

Only then did a hint of color return to Asiph-1's face.

In that fleeting moment, the light vanished from his sight.

He felt the Holy Spirit leaving him.

*

"Huh...?"

Blink.

"..."

Again, blink. Blink.

Asiph-1 felt that he had slipped out of the mental world and all his senses were anchored back in reality.

The gazes of many people poured toward him.

He slowly turned his head. Sitting cross-legged, Fourth was still in a trance, radiating light from his entire body.

The aftermath of that would be blanketing the entire planet, just as the voice had said.

Blink. Blink.

When his gaze shifted once more, he saw countless three-eyed ones—priests who had not been there just moments ago.

And in the center they surrounded...

"Father!"

Minjun, his face filled with mixed emotions.

Facing his creator, Asiph-1 was considerably surprised. It was an expression he had never seen before.

Or, more accurately, his father had never once shown him such a complexion until now.

The emotion his father was revealing right now was unmistakably 'worry.'

'Well, considering I caused such a ruckus without any warning... it is only natural he would be worried.'

Accepting this, he muttered inwardly.

'From Father's perspective, he gave me a grace period of seven days to just give up, and I have caused a disaster on the very first day. Before he says he is cancelling the remaining six days, I should quickly tell him.'

He reviewed the conversation that had taken place in Fourth's mental world.

Just before Asiph-1 could say anything, he saw the goblin.

"Huh?"

Something was strange.

A definite sense of incongruity.

Blink. Blink.

Blinking a few more times, Asiph-1 realized the reason for that feeling.

And a surging sense of unease followed.

He definitely had to confirm this.

"Wait, Mr. Dong-cheol. Why did you change your clothes in that brief moment?"

The goblin was wearing a completely different outfit from what he had on when he was brought to this battleship 'just moments ago'.

That was the reason Asiph-1 felt an ominous premonition.

'Could it be... could it be?'

Just as the goblin opened his mouth.

The answer came from Minjun instead.

"Brief moment, you say. Has your sense of time been warped as well? Or does it just look like you are standing there perfectly fine, when in reality you had lost your mind?"

"Pardon?"

"Answer me. As far as you remember, what date is it today on the Earth calendar?"

"Well..."

Asiph-1 stammered, feeling a cold sweat trickling down his back.

"It is... December 24th."

The expressions of the people changed all at once.

Seeing that, Asiph-1's heart pounded violently. Thump! Thump!

That can't be. That... can't be!

Looking at his son, who had turned pale blue, Minjun spoke.

"Today is December 31st."

"What?!"

Without even the time to continue panicking.

Asiph-1 noticed something strange about the priests' attire.

Why... are they all dressed in full combat gear meant for war?

The very instant he opened his mind to read their memories.

BOOOM!

From outside the Mothership, an enormous noise echoed, as if something massive had exploded.

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