At first glance, I thought it looked like a typical temple one might see in ancient Greece. However, as I stepped inside, an entirely different scene unfolded before me. It felt more like a courtroom.
The ceiling was adorned with vividly colored murals. Hundreds of demons encircled a round motif, with three giants above them, gazing down at the circle in an eerie depiction. Even the columns bore inscriptions that seemed to depict demons at a glance.
As I walked through the long corridor, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the painted murals in the temple. Despite being someone clueless about art, I found myself immersed in contemplation, as if I were a critic, in a temple once inhabited by demons of hell.
A familiar sensation stirred within me as I gazed at the murals. Where had I seen this before? I only knew Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes, but these mural paintings seemed familiar. How could I recognize depictions of demons? Yet, the feeling persisted. Damn.
At the end of the temple, I finally found it.
Now I could tell just by looking at it.
“The Relic of Azhibita.”
It was no surprise that the dark-clad demons of Azhibitanism possessed a relic. The deep wine-colored jewel was embedded in the left eye of the demon statue. Eight paintings surrounded the demon statue. On the ceiling, a mural depicted humans writhing in agony, pierced by countless needles; the left mural showed humans melting in boiling cauldrons, while the right mural depicted humans lying on iron plates, beaten with iron clubs by demons.
All eight paintings depicted humans being tortured. It was only then that I realized what the familiar feeling was.
“Hell.”
All the paintings depicted hell.
Moreover, it was a very familiar hell to me, a ‘human’ on Earth.
“The Relic of Suffering.”
Melissa, my sister, said.
“It’s the power that will torment you forever if you cannot overcome it.”
“Is this a chalice filled with poison this time? Well, sis, do you think I can overcome it?”
It was the first time Melissa, my sister, had worried and hesitated.
“I… I don’t know. Just… it’s okay to give up, Cantavia.”
What would the other twins think?
I looked at Ranista. As always, he wore a confident smile. It meant it was my choice. Wooshas, my sister, had an expectant look on her face. It was what she had wanted. As I hesitated, she urged me in a tone that sounded like a command.
“If you fear suffering, you won’t get what you want. Ah, you already know that, Cantavia? It’s right in front of you, what you want.”
I shrugged my shoulders. And calmly walked over to pull out the eye of the statue. The relic of risk and the feeling was definitely different. Just by touching it, I could tell. This relic didn’t bring blessings and power. It brought a terrible feeling, ominous anticipation.
“One step.”
I opened my mouth and swallowed the relic.
***
Afterward.
The events that unfolded seemed like a movie summarizing the suffering of life.
I was born into the world, and thus, I felt suffering for the first time.
Birth is not a blessing. It’s suffering.
I grew old. Inevitable aging tormented me.
I fell ill. The agony of illness gnawed at me.
Old and sick, I faced death. Dying, the greatest fear and suffering of humanity.
That’s what I thought.
But then I parted ways with the person I loved, and felt a greater pain than death.
I had to live with someone I hated, and longing added to the suffering.
I suffered from not getting what I wanted.
I suffered from the flourishing of greed and attachment.
“What’s this?”
It’s not much different from what I usually see, is it?
I stood from a distance, watching someone ‘else’ suffering from all sorts of suffering. The movie was like a terrible and boring portrayal. It was so boring that I yawned. The cries of the suffering people, I’ve seen them countless times in this life and the next. Thankfully, after the eighth screening, I was able to escape from the boring theater.
***
“Ugh, dizzy.”
The unpleasant movie I had to watch after swallowing the relic.
I regained consciousness, but my eyes were still blurry, and I felt nauseous. Unable to bear the nausea, I vomited, and I heard rough breathing beside me. When I raised my head, I saw the twins looking at me strangely. Something seemed odd. Melissa’s sister had all nine tails tangled, and Ranista, who had never been out of breath even when striking a demon with a single blow, was breathing heavily. Wooshas’s face looked even more corpse-like than usual. Almost like a skeleton.
I swallowed the relic, but they were the ones suffering.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Did a terrifying demon attack while I was unconscious?
I could only guess what had happened.
“Huff, huff. Are you okay?”
Suddenly, Ranista, who had been catching his breath, looked into my eyes and said something strange.
“Your eyes are as red as a rabbit’s.”
Melissa narrowed her eyes and said, too. Both were looking at me and talking. I had transformed into Lamelstar. The bronze-like shimmering scales of the Leviathan reflected my face like a mirror.
Crazy!
Dalbi shouted.
“Hmm.”
All of Rainberg’s bloodlines have brown eyes. Unless there was a burst blood vessel or a temporary change, my eyes would probably remain like this. But still. It doesn’t look particularly bad.
“Red eyes suit you well.”
Fortunately. If Kim Changsik in my past life had red eyes, it would have been a big problem.
I don’t know why my eyes turned into pupils after swallowing the relic. Melissa and Wooshas didn’t know the power of the relic either.
Maybe it’s just a relic that tints your eyes red as a ‘fashion’ statement. Hehe, the power of the Heavenly Sky Eye is like that, and since my eyes are red, I somehow think of a ‘fugitive ninja’.
Uh…
Suddenly, Wooshas collapsed. I was greatly surprised. Not someone else, but her? Instead of worrying, I half-curiously ran to Wooshas.
“Are you okay?”
“Ugh, I got hit.”
Wooshas, with a bitter expression, said.
“Do you think I’m just going to share the burden and watch?”
“What are you talking about.”
Ranista interjected and replied with irritation, “Damn it. You assigned tasks like shit to us, and yet you’re the one who stole the essence.”
“Huh?”
My Siblings blamed me.
Feeling unjustly accused, I bit my tongue to hold back my retort.
I blinked. This had happened a few times before, but it had always been temporary.
In my eyes.
Something began to appear.
I clenched my fists against my face. I couldn’t understand. What on earth was that thing I was seeing? Why did they? I couldn’t deny what I was seeing. But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why they would think of me ‘like that’, when and why they started to view me that way.
Just because we’re siblings?
I know their past lives. A dozen years of short life couldn’t change their essence. [“I’m not your enemy, Cantavia.”], [“You’re from Earth.”], [“Claiming to be from Polstar?”]
Suddenly, I realized.
They all knew.
Could it be the power of Suffering?
Now it’s crystal clear.
My mouth went dry. Even swallowing saliva made my throat drier. It might just be idle curiosity. It might be questions I should swallow. I was afraid of what answer might come. But with a burning thirst, I yearned for an answer.
I looked at my sibling again. I concentrated all my strength to peer into their souls. The ‘color’ they emitted remained the same.
I saw into their hearts. Hearts are vessels, emotions are paint. People can easily hide their emotions. Strong emotions that can’t be contained tend to spill out, but strong individuals don’t easily reveal their hearts.
My siblings were no different. Until now, I couldn’t see their emotions. The Fountain of Truth was capricious. Sometimes it showed the emotions held within a person, but I couldn’t always read them as I wished.
But.
Now it’s glaringly obvious.
I saw their emotions. Without permission, I clandestinely stole glimpses of the colors in their hearts. If there was no interest, the colors were faint. The darker they were, the more intense. Their hearts were filled with hatred and anger.
The lament of Count Schvarzen, who lost his children, was redder than blood. But the twins, though possessing colors as intense as Count Schvarzen’s emotions, did not harbor hatred.
I couldn’t understand it immediately. I couldn’t fathom what to call it. But as I watched, I gradually realized.
Damn. Does it make sense?
As deep as the bond between parent and child.
Do they.
Hold me dear?
Dare I call it love? Do beings more devilish than demons feel affection?
It’s absurd.
I was swept up in a strange feeling. It felt akin to betrayal. The idea that they possessed human hearts was disgustingly astonishing. Perhaps it’s the standards accumulated since past lives that are judging.
“You.”
I asked them.
Ranista, Melissa, Wooshas.
Unlike the usual affectionate calling, I called them ‘you’.
The one speaking now wasn’t ‘Cantavia’.
It’s Kim Changsik from a past life asking.
“Why did you invade Earth?”
At that moment, the colors of the three vanished simultaneously.
Did they hide it?
Only now.
It might be meaningless.
Perhaps they became comfortable, and I, unwittingly, rudely prodded them.
But this too, is my… step.
After a long silence,
They answered as if making a promise.
“We.”
“Did not.”
“Invade Earth.”
***
The Daejeon Incident.
Without warning, the assault from the ‘other world’ plunged humanity into ruin. The invaders were not alone. There were horrifying monsters, like the green goblins that almost killed me, and beings that could be called ‘demons’ in hindsight. All sorts of bizarre entities attacked Earth, stripping away countless things from humanity. Human lives were the most trivial currency.
And among the many invaders, the three calamities caused the greatest harm to humanity. The witch who destroyed the ‘weapons’ humanity had built up in an instant, the lunatic who killed the symbol of the new resistance, the ability users, and the saint who ruthlessly tore apart humanity’s cohesion.
I vividly remember how the three calamities brought about the downfall of humanity. Yet they claim they were merely entangled in it.
I had always been curious.
But I was too afraid to ask.
Why did they invade Earth?
My siblings were cooperative.
As if they had been waiting for this question, they answered without hesitation.
From Ranista to Wooshas, they explained about their remembered past lives.
The story was long.
We talked for a long time.
I calmly accused them of their atrocities I remembered, pointing out each one.
But their memories were different for each of them.
The overall ‘framework’ was the same, but the detailed memories were different for all four.
I felt a great dissonance as I compared their memories to mine.
My memories are based on my experiences in past lives.
In my past lives, I never met them and had conversations like now.
Everything I know is what I heard, saw, and felt.
But even those memories might just be a product of human fallibility.
Perhaps there are things I don’t know, hidden things.
They say human memories are easily forgotten and distorted.
Are my memories truly reliable?
“How did I know I was from Earth?”
I asked Wooshas.
[Can angels not recognize humans?]
It was an ambiguous answer, but let’s assume it was.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Tsk, you’re the one who ran away. Fool.”
“Really? To me?”
I lowered my head at my sister’s jab.
Should I believe their words?
It’s not a lie. There’s no reason for them to hide the truth from me. Even if they were the demons who invaded Earth as I remember, nothing would change. Damn, that’s what makes it even stranger. Why would those who don’t need to care about me, bother with someone like me? Just because we’re siblings?
“I don’t remember.”
Ranista said. His face flushed as if I had touched on something sensitive.
“My death doesn’t come to mind. How… humiliating a demise it must be? A death that doesn’t remember its end, dare! Who dares to say someone killed me!”
“Calm down, Master.”
Wooshas approached to show evidence of uncertain memory,
asking each of us to say the ‘year the Battle occurred’ that we remember.
That is, the year my siblings invaded Earth.
The answers were surprising.
2009.
1999.
2099.
And.
How could I forget.
The ‘monsters’ crawling out of the ‘crack’ in Gwanghwamun Square.
The year was 2019.
The year my first portal appearing, as I remember.
But the twins were each stating different years.
The earliest year Ranista remembers is 1999.
Wooshas says it’s 2099? Does that make sense?
“Do you understand now?”
Wooshas, who approached me, gently slapped my cheek with her white hand.
“What kind of trick we’ve fallen into.”
Ranista’s face was as red as a ripe tomato, ready to burst at any moment.
“How dare… Even if I don’t know who played the trick, I’ll make sure to make whoever mocked us pay for it. Whether God or devil, I’ll kill them all……”
“Oh my, with what skill? You’re already dead.”
“The fox barks.”
Why are they suddenly fighting each other?
Yeah, originally they weren’t supposed to be tangled up as siblings or anything.
Because they each have such strong powers, they don’t really need companions.
But even saying that, the twins knew they had to join forces against a common enemy.
Though Ranista cursed, Melisa ignored him.
“The one who caused the Battle, the one who killed us, and the same bastard who made us quadruplets might be the same person’s mischief. Honestly. Disgusting. Even the gods wouldn’t do such a thing. But so what? The fact remains that we agreed to join forces with that damn bastard. I’ll tear off the bastard’s genitals who dared to treat us like toys……”
For a while, Melisa cursed.
“You must also be prepared to ask about past lives. I’ll ask again this time. Cantavia, what do you think? Pulling out the genitals of the damn bastard……”
“You don’t have to pull out the genitals.”
It felt like taking a step forward after passing hundreds of steps.
“Revenge is agreed.”
Actually, I wasn’t burning with revenge like the twins.
But I became even more curious. Who could have killed those authors?
Me too.
My siblings also don’t remember their own deaths.
There was no way to find out right away.
But it’s not that there’s no way.
It’s certain.
As I get stronger, the abilities of the Heavenly Sky Eye are also getting stronger.
If I can handle all the abilities of the Heavenly Sky Eye, it’s no big deal.
These eyes can see even what the gods see.
Future or past.
And even forgotten memories.
I lay down on the bed in the posture of freshen up rather than lie down on the bed, suppressing the tiredness that returned to my body. There was a reason to become stronger. I talked to the twins, but there were still many unclear parts. Not remembering is not remembering, which means memories may have been manipulated.
To know all the answers.
I had to get stronger.
