Chapter 34 : God

Amidst the countless crowds,
pushing through the gaps, their king squeezed in.

The surrounding dragons, startled, hurriedly stepped aside.

Albinus, who would usually smile and express gratitude or apologize politely, was acting strangely today.

With a furrowed brow, he was waving his hand as he approached a woman dressed in tattered clothes.

At that moment—

“Puwaaaah!!!”

Blood shot up high into the sky.

The dragons screamed in shock, and Albinus was no different.

“Emila!!!!!”

Then, Albinus quickly sprinted toward Emila.

But before he could reach her—

—Shuuuuuk!!

“Move aside!!”

‘Minho?!’

His daughter had reached the woman first.

Minho furrowed her brows as she examined Emila’s wounds, moving her hands over them in distress.

Seeing this, Albinus also took a closer look at Emila.

There she was, lifeless in a horrifying state.

He couldn’t believe that his niece had died in such a gruesome manner.

Her arms were covered in bloodstains, wounds, and scars.

Bruises could be seen faintly on the sides of her face.

Her neck, exposed collarbones from torn clothing, and even the upper part of her back—
all bore the same marks.

There was no doubt that she had suffered at the hands of someone.

A family member he was connected to by blood,
someone he had made up his mind to save,
had met such a terrible end.

‘…Too late.’

These words were directed at himself for deciding to save her too late,
and at Minho, who was desperately trying to bring her back to life.

It was far too late.

To make an excuse, Albinus had thought Emila was already dead.

After all, his own older brother—her father—
and her mother had also met tragic ends.

But that was just an excuse.

He had simply chosen to look away.

Even though he had always preached about never giving up.

He remembered his niece’s face as she smiled at him when he said those words.

He could have searched for her.

But he didn’t.

In the end, he was no different from the other dragons.

With that thought, Albinus once again drove a dagger into his own heart.

Looking back at Emila’s now lifeless body,
he realized that there was no saving her.

A gaping hole had pierced through her chest,
her hands were severely damaged,
and where her internal organs should have been, there was nothing left—
either obliterated or crushed beyond recognition.

Yet, despite that, Minho was still desperately trying to save her,
her face twisted in determination.

As Albinus watched, he took a step forward, intending to tell his innocent daughter the truth.

But then—

“Everyone, stay back!!”

Minho’s firm voice rang out loudly.

Her eyes closed, she shouted with all her might, and Albinus instinctively stepped back.

At that very moment, the ground beneath Minho and Emila
began to glow with a dazzling golden light.

“…!!”

Albinus’s eyes widened in shock.

“Min…!!”

He tried to call Minho’s name, but before he could,
a notification window appeared before him, issuing a warning.

[Do not interfere with the Apostle of God.]

The red warning message flickered intensely, blocking Albinus’s vision.

“W-what?!”

With his sight obscured, he couldn’t see what was happening to his daughter and niece.

All he could feel was the gusts of magical wind blowing in waves,
and the overwhelming golden radiance indicating that something extraordinary was unfolding.

And then, as he trembled with unease—

“…Baby?…”

“…I’m… relieved…”

Thud.

A small, insignificant sound of something falling was heard, along with Emila’s weak voice.

[Child… Rest… Interference… Mana… Insufficient… Please… Take care…]

Though the words were cut off halfway, Albinus understood their meaning well.

“…Minho!!”

His daughter had collapsed on the ground.

“…Ugh…”

Unknowingly, a whimper escaped from his lips.

His head was pounding as if it were about to shatter.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…”

As I kept twitching, I felt a gentle touch stroking my head.

Like magic, the headache vanished instantly.

“…You’re all better now, right?”

“…Y-yeah.”

I responded to the voice while keeping my eyes closed.

Though the pain had disappeared, the lingering sensation left me confused.

“Why are you keeping your eyes closed?”

A captivating voice chuckled softly.

I didn’t know what was so amusing.

“You can open them now. Want to try?”

“…Okay.”

Who exactly was this woman?

Where was I?

Curiosity mixed with fear wrapped around me.

As I slowly opened my eyes—

“…Who are you?”

The first words that came out of my mouth were Who are you?

Because in front of me stood a woman I had never seen before.

She looked like someone out of Greek mythology, dressed in robes adorned with gold.

Behind her, enormous golden wings and a swaying tail indicated that she was a dragon.

Her outfit had a slit on the side, revealing glimpses of bare skin, which felt somewhat daring.

Honestly, it wasn’t bad. It was a feast for the eyes.

Anyway, when I asked who she was, the woman in front of me smiled softly.

“I’m the one you always call ‘old man.’”

So kind.

She was so gentle that it left a deep impression.

But… this person was the old man?

The image didn’t match at all.

The shock was greater than I expected.

Now that I thought about it, I might have heard this voice before.

“…What happened to Emila?”

It was the voice I had heard when trying to save Emila.

“She’s safe.”

“All thanks to your efforts.”

The woman hugged me and chuckled softly.

‘…Are you really the old man? Your way of speaking is completely different.’

The old man I knew didn’t talk like this.

His speech was usually much more childish.

Most of the time, the system window obscured it, so it wasn’t too noticeable,
but whenever things got urgent, his filtering seemed to break, and he talked like some internet goofball.

I had seen it happen with my own two eyes.

When I pointed it out, the so-called old man smiled awkwardly, a bead of sweat rolling down her face.

“…Well, um…”

“I didn’t expect even my soul to turn into a child… If I had known, I would have acted more gently.”

“…Huh? Soul?”

“This is the Celestial Realm. The place where gods reside.”

Celestial Realm?

Tilting my head in confusion, the old ma… No, big sis also tilted her head and started picking her words carefully.

“So, this is where the gods live.”

“Only souls can enter here.”

“That’s why we called your soul here.”

“I thought your past-life form would show up, since you only recently arrived.”

“…But it looks like you’ve completely adapted to this form, becoming a pure and innocent soul.”

I nodded, recalling that someone had once told me my soul was murky and sickly before.

“…I thought if I treated you like a friend, you’d feel more comfortable… Sorry.”

“Ah, no! It’s okay!”

Apparently, the dragon lady had spoken to me like a friend because she saw how lonely and burdened my soul had been.

“Well, I guess there’s no choice.”

It was true that this was actually comfortable.

But wait a second.

I shifted my gaze downward and looked at my twitching fingers and toes.
So, the body I had here was my soul?

“…Did I die?”

“…Huh?!”

“No way!!! I made up my mind to live a long life this time!!!!!”

“M-Minho?!”

I died again? What the hell.

Lying on the ground in shock, I stared blankly at the sky.

Beside me, a dragon spent the next 30 minutes explaining the situation.

Apparently, I wasn’t actually dead.

I had simply fallen into a deep sleep due to mana exhaustion,
and they had temporarily brought me here.

My body was fine, and I could return without any issues,
so I felt relieved for now.

With that, as I started to calm down, a question arose in my mind.

‘What should I call her…?’

It was about how to address her.

I had been casually calling her “old man” before,
but that wouldn’t work now.

I mean, look at her.

How could I call someone this beautiful “old man”?

Even if she acted like she didn’t mind, it was obvious she would feel hurt.

“Then… What should I call you now?”

“Hmm?”

I fidgeted with my fingers and looked up at the dragon—no, at the goddess.

She grinned at me, then suddenly clapped her hands as if she had a great idea.

“Then just call me sister! ‘Goddess’ feels a little embarrassing!”

“Ah, got it…”

As I nodded, smiling, she reached out and gently patted my head.

“…What’s your name?”

“My name?”

As she continued stroking my hair, she hesitated before answering.

“Hmm… If you hear it, Minho, you might go insane. Are you okay with that?”

“…What?”

“A true name holds divine power. If a lower being hears it, they might lose their mind.”

“…Ah-ha…”

“But Minho, you might be fine. After all, you’re the Apostle of the Moon and Gold!”

“…?”

What kind of cringe-worthy name was that?

I made a face, staring at her in disbelief.

Seeing my expression, she tilted her head in confusion.

“W-What?”

“That name is too embarrassing. Just call me Minho.”

“O-Oh, alright.”

“……”

“But there’s something important you should know.”

She continued seriously.

“We can’t tell you our true names, but we can share our titles.”

“…Titles?”

Titles? What did that mean?

Also, we? Wasn’t she the only one here?

As I looked around, I noticed a man approaching us.

He walked slowly, relying on only one eye, as the other was covered by an eyepatch.

His arms and legs were wrapped in bandages, leaving only his head exposed.

His hair was deep purple,
and the eye he had left glowed beautifully, like a full moon embedded in it.

“The Queen of Gold, and the Father of the Night Sky.”

“Those are our titles.”

The man smiled slightly and waved at me.

“Nice to meet you, Minho.”

[Nice to meet you, Minho.]

As he spoke, the system window also displayed a message.

A mechanical female voice from the system overlapped with the man’s deep, enchanting voice,
creating an oddly mystical effect.

“Would this greeting feel more familiar?”

[Would this greeting feel more familiar?]

“Greetings, User.”

[Greetings, User. This is GM tls.]

GM…?

Why did he look so battered…?