It’s Not Night - Chapter 123

Andra opened her eyes to a damp, wet feeling covering her entire body. It felt like she was in someone’s embrace, holding her while moving. With her head ringing, she dazedly called out Dustin’s name, and then she realized that the man holding her was Dean, and she struggled. Dean obediently dropped her off.

“Where is this… again?”

Every time she woke up, the place that surrounded changed. It was difficult to figure out where exactly she was. Andra grabbed her messy head and looked around. She tripped in the middle and almost fell, but thanks to Dean supporting her, the mishap was averted.

She was now in some kind of tunnel, but it was so dark that she couldn’t see anything except for the lamp Dean was holding.

Wait a minute?

“…Are we in a dungeon?”

Andra asked, shaking off Dean’s hand that was holding her. It was because she suddenly remembered the encounter with the ant monster before she parted with Dustin. Then the thought of the giant ant, which was large with its sharp jaws, sent chills down her spine. Andra was now in a place where dozens or hundreds of such ants were swarming.

“You know me well. It’s an anthill dungeon.”

“…Why are we here?”

“I have something to do.”

Dean answered in a calm and low tone. Andra bitterly asked again.

“Are you saying you want to clear the dungeon here?”

“Don’t worry. It won’t do you any harm. It is just a simple process.”

“Process?”

“You will find out later. Maybe you already know.”

Dean glanced gently at Andra and moved ahead. Andra had to follow him and move forward. So, the two of them started walking at a certain distance.

The dark anthill continued endlessly. There were dozens of forked paths in the middle, but Dean moved forward without a hint of confusion.

The road went down along a tunnel dug diagonally. The slope was steep and it was difficult to balance. Andra staggered and her center of gravity shifted forward, and again Dean caught and supported her.

She was about to shake off that touch again. Suddenly, Dean tightened his hold on her and pulled Andra into his arms. Then he raised her index finger and brought it to his lips.

“Shh.”

It wasn’t long before she could see worker ants carrying something in their mouths across the corner. Andra rolled her eyes, glanced at it, and when she saw that the ants were biting into humanoid shapes, she hurriedly caught her breath. Eventually, after all the ants had passed, Dean let Andra go. Then, as if it didn’t matter much, he continued on.

“Alright, you have to keep moving.”

“Wait a minute, what will happen to them when the dungeon is conquered?”

She knew that ants collected their food one after another in their food storage. The people who were caught would not die right away, but the problem was what would happen to them once the dungeon was cleared. If the dungeon didn’t suck people in by itself, it was only when a dungeon was in the process of being cleared. However, it wouldn’t spit out the people had gotten dragged in by the monsters.

Seeing Andra with a serious face, Dean briefly glanced at the place where the ants had disappeared.

“If someone doesn’t rescue them, they will be trapped here as the ants’ food storage and die.”

It was a cold tone, as if he didn’t care whether they died or not. Andra’s eyebrows furrowed.

“What is that…”

“Don’t mind it. They will disappear anyway.”

Dean gently wrapped her arms around Andra’s shoulders and pushed her forward. It was a very different attitude from before, when he treated people worse than bugs. Andra, horrified by the sense of alienation, twisted her body away from Dean.

“Disappear, what do you mean?”

“My God, We have a long way to go.”

“Until you tell me, I won’t move a single step.”

Dean let out a heavy, sinking breath as Andra stood still. Even so, as if he had expected it to some extent, he looked at Andra intently.

“Because they have to disappear.”

“So, why would they disappear?”

“Because I need it and I have to do it.”

It was a mysterious remark.

“Didn’t I tell you? All of this is just a process. Just as results come only after going through a process, this is just one step of the way.”

Dean kept emphasizing the process. What is the process, and how important is it? Andra couldn’t stop her crumpled face. It’s not a riddle, why was he twisting words… Andra hesitated. Suddenly she asked again.

“…What is the process for?”

“To reach the end that we had promised.”

Dean answered Andra’s question. The word was still mysterious, but at that moment, there was a sentence that passed through Andra’s mind. ‘God fell asleep at the end of the world.’ She thought that maybe the process Dean is talking about is to reach the ‘end of the world’ mentioned in the scroll.

‘This is also a part of the process…’

Thinking about it, it was. By chance, she became a team with Dustin and headed to the Aslan ruins. Together with him, they fell into the dungeon and were enchanted. When they used the power to attack the Aslan dungeon, a clue pointing to Morgennis came out.

And that wasn’t all. Even the circumstances led them to Morgennis like fate. As soon as they came to Morgennis, they were lured back to this dungeon. Plus now Dean was standing in front of her.

Andra faced Dean with a hard face. The orange light that was the only light in the dark tunnel was creating a half-cast shadow on the man’s face. But there was no foreign feeling. Dean looked more natural with the half face buried in the shadows than the half face exposed in the light.

“…Dean, are you going to the ‘end of the world’? Because Anat is sleeping there?”

“You know now.”

Dean smiled and took a step closer to her. But, stopping him, Andra stepped back. She still needed a bit more time to organize her thoughts.

“But does reaching that ‘end of the world’ require sacrifice? But why? They have nothing to do with it.”

The last question was one that Andra also asked herself. Why is sacrifice necessary to reach the ‘end of the world’? They’re innocent people. Andra repeated the last part of the scroll, that she could almost recite in her brain, in her mouth.

The world is in chaos. Crown of gold, splendid power, close your eyes. Opening your eyes will be possible only after the eighth task. So where the sun sets, the Dragon Mountains that intersect the two worlds, the gods fall asleep at the end of the world.

There was no mention of sacrifice anywhere. So, what was Dean talking about? First of all, there was no doubt that ‘the end of the world’ was related to Anat. That was what Dean himself admitted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such an unnecessary sacrifice. But apart from that, it mattered whether what he was doing was right.

“Dean, what are you doing? Is this really right?”

Andra cooled down, but trying hard not to avoid Dean’s eyes, she backed away little by little. However, it wasn’t long before Andra gasped in surprise as Dean caught her arm.

“Are you suspicious of me? I’ve been waiting alone for such a long time to meet you like this. Now all that remains is to keep your promise…”

At one point Dean looked down at Andra with a wounded face. He really seemed to feel sad for Andra who doubted him. Andra asked as her body trembled slightly at the strength of his grasp.

“W-What did Anat promise you?”

“You promised to give me eternity and an end. I’ll be waiting for you for as long as time passes on… You’re giving me a chance… Isn’t that why you appeared in front of me like this?”

“Again, I am not the Anat who you know…”

Dean raised his back into the air and reached out to stroke Andra’s cheek gently. Soon, his large palm hugged Andra’s cheek. However, Andra shuddered at the cold touch.

“I know. Because you forgot everything and appeared before me as a human being. I also understand your denial. But it makes me a little angry that you doubt me, who has been waiting alone in the dark thinking only of you.”

“Dean, I…”

“Actually, I never expected to see you again like this. I thought I’d be able to meet you there only after I opened the door…”

The man’s hand caressed Andra’s eyes, nose and mouth as if caressing a lover he had been longing for.

How he yearned to see this face again. Tens of thousands of times he drew his God’s face in the dark. He would never forget this face.

On the other hand, Andra was trying to get away from him somehow, her body flinching whenever Dean touched her. Andra hurriedly asked as he touched her lips now.

“Wait, wait, Dean. If I were Anat, then wouldn’t you have no reason to go to the ‘end of the world’? Why do you want to go to the ‘end of the world’ by making unnecessary sacrifices?”

“You don’t remember me, right? Above all, you are not perfect as you are right now.”

“What do you mean…”

“I will make you a god again.”

To resurrect Anat as a god. That was the purpose Dean wanted and the reason he made unnecessary sacrifices. The lives of tens of thousands of humans were nothing for the sake of the resurrection of his god.

In the first place, without Anat, humans would not have been able to step to where they are now. So, if all that’s needed was to exchange those people for the sake of waking up Anat again, Dean thought that he could repeat that process over and over again.