It’s Not Night - Chapter 173.2

“I see. I have always recognized your true nature.”

“Then you ought to listen to my plea as well. I am your first thought. Do not neglect me.”

The primordial god chuckled lightly at Nera’s words.

“My daughter, that is your greed speaking.”

“Mother, do not deny me. You knew it would come to this. Didn’t you anticipate how I would turn out? As I have said before, I am born of your thought, scattering greed and sowing conflict across the world. Everything I long for is indelible.”

Nera’s capacity to sometimes defy the primordial god’s commands was also a manifestation of the primordial god’s own thoughts.

Greed and conflict must exist for justice and harmony to have meaning, and neutrality to emerge. Just as life necessitates death, and as long as the earth and heavens have existed, this has been the unchanging truth.

“My beloved child, I know. As you say, you are my first thought, yet also the first I have forsaken.”

The primordial god approached Nera and tenderly caressed her face. A child who loves her sister yet causes her sorrow. In the end, greed could be no other way.

“The most unstable being. It was you, closest to humans. Yes, tell me, what is it that you want so much?”

Nera spoke strongly to her mother.

“After Basham, grant me the last.”

At those words, Anat swallowed hard. ‘The last’—she knew what that meant. It likely meant to the sequence of tasks.

“From love to greed…”

The primordial god chuckled.

A being enamored by love is blinded by greed, ending in tragedy.

Nera hoped to see them destroy each other.

* * *”Stupid…”

Dean sneered at Dustin, who was sprawled out in the distance. It was pitiful that he kept charging at him, knowing he was no match. The man who had just spilled a handful of blood was now unable to stand up. It was predictable. How can a human stop him?

‘It took longer than expected. I hadn’t planned on such a delay.’

Dean glanced at the dragon’s belly he had slit open. Hot, lava-like blood gushed out, spilling the innards from the sliced area. He waded through, undisturbed by the blood and guts clinging to him.

The dragon, still clinging to life, gasped for air and glared at Dean.

[And yet you do this… to Lady Anat…]

“It’s fine. Lady Anat won’t know. I’ll erase everything and start anew.”

Dean rummaged through the dragon’s innards. He had allowed himself to be swallowed by the dragon and bide his time within. Though the inside of the dragon was dangerously acidic and hot enough to melt him, it was a calculated risk.

However, the foolish human man had wasted the opportunity to kill Dean alongside the dragon, allowing him to escape. Such an idiot. If he had killed Dean with the dragon, he could have lived eternally with her in Hezel.

Whatever the human man had been thinking, he hadn’t killed the dragon. Instead, he had saved it. Thus, Dean too had managed to survive.

“Here it is.”

While rummaging through the innards, Dean finally found a small egg. The object he had been searching for. Warmth emanated from its surface.

With this and the last of the dragon’s fire, he could start anew as he wished. Of course, he would need to eradicate the pesky humans first. But there was no need to rush. The crumbling of the island had already sealed their doom.

Holding the egg, Dean moved towards the dragon’s tail. He spotted a faded scale on the left side and stabbed his sword into it. The dragon screeched in agony and thrashed wildly.

Dean then twisted his sword, tearing off the scale. As the scale fell, the dragon’s body slumped.

Its life was finally extinguished.

Dean examined the scale in his grasp before casually tossing it aside and returning to the front. A red stone rolled out from inside the dragon’s mouth—the dragon’s life and its fire encapsulated within.

Dean picked up the stone, noticing the vibrant flame inside.

He smiled contentedly and headed towards the center of the island, where the being he most longed to see awaited.

‘Our time together is near.’

The volcano began to rumble, preparing to spew dark red smoke and lava. Once everything was complete, this false Hezel would be submerged in lava, soon to engulf the world outside as well. There was no need for sorrow. When this world perished, a new one would arise.

“My dear god…”

In the only paradise that would remain, Dean planned never to let go of Anat. It would be a return to the real Hezel they had once forged, an utopia.

Dean was heading towards the god he had long desired. Anat, having become a god, would forever remain by his side.