NOVPUBLong ago, the Goddess of Life created humankind.
She was deeply fond of her creation, and to care for them properly, she fashioned a multitude of divine beings.
It was an age of peace—serene, beautiful, unmarred.
At least until the Ancient Evil, the only god not born of creation, also grew fond of humanity.
And thus began a war that would last for thousands of years.
The Evil God and the Pantheon waged war without end.
Both the Ancient Evil and the Goddess of Life were godlike entities of overwhelming power. Should they ever fight directly, the only outcome would be mutual annihilation. But it was humankind that shattered the balance.
Now, everything hinged on the direction of human faith.
Whether the Goddess of Life or the Evil God would triumph was no longer a matter for the divine—it was up to mankind.
And just as that story reached this point—
“Then why... why does someone like her look like that?”
I couldn’t help but ask.
The Goddess of Grace was in no condition that could even jokingly be called “well.”
Blasphemous as it sounded, she looked like she could die if I so much as touched her.
At my words, the Goddess of Grace gave me a bitter smile.
[Over a thousand years ago, the Evil God and I fought—as we always did. But that time, I was slain by his hand.]
“You died?”
[Yes. And because of that, the <self> and <authority> of the Goddess of Life were split apart and scattered across the Spirit Realm.]
Lilia, the so-called Goddess of Grace, gently pointed to herself.
[I am her self. And her divine authority... is held by the one standing behind you.]
I turned to look at Asmodeus, silently manifested at my back.
So she holds the Goddess of Life’s divine authority?
Well, in that case, this was perfect.
“Then please, just take it off my hands. Go on—quickly!”
[If I could, don’t you think I would’ve done so already?]
Lilia gave Asmodeus a look filled with regret.
[Though she serves you as her master, part of her is still bound to that fallen angel from Hell. As long as her authority remains tainted, it can never be mine.]
“Fallen angel?”
[The reason Hell was born. There was a traitor in the Celestial Realm.]
As she said this, Lilia trembled, unable to suppress her fury.
The divine beings standing behind her rushed to steady her shivering form.
Lilia took several deep breaths, calming herself, then bowed her head slightly toward me in apology before continuing.
[The Evil God succeeded in killing the Goddess of Life, but he didn’t walk away unscathed. His divine self was critically damaged. While he retreated into the Abyss to hide, the righteous gods of the Pantheon began gathering the scattered fragments of the Goddess’s being throughout the Spirit Realm. Leading that effort was her most trusted—her archangel, the one who could sense her divine essence.]
“...No way.”
[Exactly that way. No one could’ve predicted her most trusted archangel would betray her. Perhaps, when he saw her overwhelming power laid bare before him, he felt a desire he couldn’t refuse. That’s how it happened. The archangel seized her authority—and fell.]
Lilia didn’t look up to the heavens.
She cast her eyes to the ground beneath her.
[No one calls him archangel anymore. He’s now the Demon Lord of Pride. And for the same reason, the being behind you... is no longer known as the vessel of divine authority, but as the Demon Lord of Lust. It’s why the fiends of Hell and the Abyss call me a whore.]
A being who wields their master’s power indiscriminately, without any sense of self.
When you consider what Hell and the Abyss must have done to Lilia, the insult becomes unbearable.
I looked at Asmodeus, still silently standing at my back.
So she’s not a Demon Lord?
That’s a relief.
But then the real question is—why does someone like her serve me as her master?
“The Demon Lord of Pride betrayed the heavens just to claim that divine authority. So why do I have it?”
[Because the Demon Lord of Pride let it go. Not willingly, but he did.]
“What happened?”
[Three hundred years ago, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the Evil God and Hell joined forces and waged war on the Pantheon. The problem began when Asmodeus had not one—but two masters.]
Wait a minute.
She had two?
“You’re saying Lucifer passed control of Asmodeus to someone else? A human?”
[Yes. During war, it wasn’t practical for Lucifer to control everything about the Demon Lord of Lust on his own. Imagine having to drag two wild warhorses everywhere you go. So he created another master—someone who could move separately from him.]
“Why give that authority to a human, of all things? Someone so prone to corruption?”
Lilia gave a faint smile at that.
[Lucifer is the very one who stole the divine authority from the Pantheon. Could he trust another divine with Asmodeus? They might repeat his betrayal. So instead, he chose a controllable option—a human. Even if there was a risk of corruption, at least a human could be brainwashed.]
Come to think of it, from Lucifer’s perspective, it made perfect sense.
“So then he tried to lure that corrupted human master to his side? And now the Evil God wants to use the authority of the Goddess of Life?”
[No. That wasn’t possible. Lucifer was cautious. Though he created a new master, he still retained half the control. It was a failsafe in case the new master lost control. Even if the Evil God managed to corrupt the human, total domination was impossible.]
“Then what was the point...”
[The Evil God whispered arrogance into the human’s heart. Pushed him, again and again, to cross the line. Wielding divine power, drunk on lust and impulse—he finally did something unforgivable.]
“...Did he betray Hell?”
[Close. But no. He tried to kill the Demon Lord of Greed. He wanted to feed her corpse to Asmodeus, to make her stronger.]
Even Lucifer, once an archangel, had succumbed to temptation.
There was no way a mere human could have resisted.
[In the end, the Demon Lord of Greed had no choice but to kill Asmodeus’s human master. And that... that was the problem. Asmodeus tried to avenge her master. It was one of the only instincts left to her, despite having no sense of self.]
“You mean she fought all of Hell?”
[Yes. Lucifer and the other Demon Lords eventually brought her down. Her divine self was shattered, and she fell into the mortal realm—lost to all. But in doing so, the Demon Lords exhausted themselves. They could no longer continue the war.]
In that moment, I finally understood why the three Demon Lords never made a serious move to kill me.
[During the infighting, the Pantheon regrouped and launched a counteroffensive. Both the Evil God and the wounded Hell forces had no choice but to retreat. And for the past 300 years... balance was maintained.]
When Hell tried to consume the Pantheon, the Evil God would interfere.
When the Evil God tried to devour the Pantheon, Hell would resist.
But if the Pantheon ever amassed enough faith to destroy one side, the other two would immediately ally.
Yet despite their rivalry, Hell and the Evil God never fought to the death.
And so, for 300 years, a precarious, rigid balance endured.
[And for those 300 years, no one knew where Asmodeus had gone. Not the Pantheon. Not Hell. Not the Evil God. They were too busy watching each other. And then—suddenly—you appeared, Amayel.]
At last, I knew everything.
And after listening to the entire story, one realization struck me like lightning.
“...That whole thing about ‘the Demon Lord of Lust is inside you, so we’ll throw you into Hell’—that wasn’t you, was it?”
To the Pantheon, I would never have been seen as an enemy.
They had no reason to threaten me.
Lilia nodded slowly at my guess.
[It was the Evil God. Not me.]
“That prophecy... about dying at the hands of someone I love. That was fake, too. Made up by Hell and the Evil God, wasn’t it?”
I asked immediately.
And at that moment, one of the gods stepped forward.
Hovering above his head was a glowing symbol—a single eye.
I knew instantly.
He was the God of Prophecy.
And the God of Prophecy said:
[That prophecy was mine.] 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
He betrayed my last shred of hope.
“...What?”
“And it will come to pass. You will be killed by the hands of the women who love you.”
The blood drained from my face.
My legs gave out beneath me.
I staggered.
“Please... please save me. I don’t want to die!! This is too much!! It’s too heavy, all of it!! Take Asmodeus away! Please!! I don’t want that kind of ending! Just tell me—how do I avoid that prophecy?!”
The God of Prophecy shook his head.
“There is no escaping your fate. Because it will not be by any other’s hand—it will be by your own will that it is fulfilled.”
“Ah...”
Dizziness overtook me. I collapsed to the ground.
The field of wildflowers blurred into a chaotic swirl.
“Why are you doing this to me... Why me...?”
Lupiel slowly approached and placed a hand on my shoulder.
It was a gentle, careful touch, as if trying to console me.
“You’re mistaken, child. You who suffer alone. My prophecy will protect you. In the final moment, you will be saved—by the prophecy I gave.”
I slapped Lupiel’s hand away.
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
Grief and rage surged inside me like a storm.
“You’re gods, aren’t you?! You’re supposed to be divine! And yet you can’t even save a single human being?! What the hell kind of gods are you?! What did I do so wrong?! What did I do to deserve this?! Why?!”
Lilia and the other gods rushed forward in alarm.
“You bastard!! Watch your mouth!! You think this kid isn’t already at his breaking point, and you throw that shit at him?!”
Dulanaer outright punched Lupiel.
Gods surrounded me.
They embraced me as I sobbed, unable to stand under the weight of it all.
“I’m sorry, Amayel. We’re sorry. Over and over, we’re sorry. Lupiel... even the gods of the Pantheon struggle to understand him. He sees too far ahead. Sees too many futures. But one thing is certain—what you fear most... may not be how it ends.”
Lilia’s voice wrapped around me like warm cloth, soaked in sorrow and comfort.
“Prophecies can change, depending on how they’re interpreted. I don’t know what future Lupiel saw to say what he did—but I swear it wasn’t to hurt you.”
The God of Justice, Rophes, continued where Lilia left off.
“And even if that prophecy leads to the worst ending you can imagine—we swear to you, we will change that ending. I stake my name, my very existence on it, Amayel. We will not let your fate be misery. No matter what it takes. We will fight to change your destiny.”
And with that, the other divine beings joined him, one by one.
“In the name of secrets and shadows, I swear the same. I won’t forget your pain. I won’t forget your sorrow. I will do anything to change your fate.”
“By the light of the moon, I swear it. So shall I, too.”
“By the number of Hell and Abyss bastards I’ve slaughtered with my own hands, I swear this, Amayel! I—Dulanaer—will never forget your sacrifice. I will make sure your ending is a happy one!”
Their vows poured out like a flood.
And only then did the iron grip around my heart loosen slightly.
I wiped my tears away and stood.
I looked at the gods of the Pantheon.
“...Then what do I do now? Does it still end with me as a martyr? Am I supposed to keep wandering this world, just to find someone who can destroy my soul?”
Right as I asked that—
“Amayel!”
“The gate is closing!!”
“That arrogant son of a bitch!!”
Asmodeus and the Pantheon gods screamed out all at once.
At the same time, a crushing weight slammed into my body.
“Gah!”
It felt like someone had punched me square in the gut.
My body crumpled to the ground.
Lilia screamed toward Asmodeus.
“Suppress your power! His body can’t take it!!”
“Understo—”
Asmodeus started to reply, but I flailed my hand desperately.
Even if it destroyed my body, I needed answers.
“I need to know what I’m supposed to do!! How do I escape this miserable fate?! How do I reach a happy ending?!”
One by one, the gods began to vanish.
The connection between Heaven and Earth was fading.
“Asmodeus’s left wing!! The corrupted one on her left! Destroy it!!”
Rophes’s voice rang out like a final scream before he disappeared.
“There are two divine fragments still left on Earth—ones the Evil God hasn’t touched! Find them! They’re the key to destroying the wing!!”
Lilia’s last words echoed in my ears.
“How do I find them?!”
The taste of blood filled my mouth—and then I vomited, hard.
Asmodeus’s divine pressure was tearing my body apart.
But I didn’t stop.
Only two gods remained now—only they could answer.
Dulanaer.
And Lupiel.
“The two gods you must find are the God of Courage and the God of Endurance! The gods reside where the will they govern is strongest! You arrogant bastard—!!”
Dulanaer cursed as he vanished.
And then, at the very end, only Lupiel remained.
“Enter through the narrow gate. That is where salvation lies. Do not forget my prophecy. In the final moment, it will save you.”
Lupiel disappeared.
And then—
“Remember the feeling of the command you gave me.”
Asmodeus was gone.
The crushing pressure that had surrounded me disappeared in an instant.
All that remained was the scent of flowers and grass.
And—
“Oh god...”
“What did I just witness...”
“Saint... it’s the Saint...”
Around me, dozens of holy knights were kneeling.
And at the sight of them, I gave a bitter laugh.
...Well, this was it.
Anyone would look at this and say the same thing.
I really am the Saint now.
