It’s Not Night - Chapter 175.1

Shortly after, just as in Aslan before, the floor began to cave in, revealing a new space. Complete darkness. Andra looked into the pitch-black passage ahead. If she entered… Hesitating, she glanced back at the golden chair where Nera had sat.

The golden chairs, now without their occupants, no longer shone brilliantly. They merely stood, like faded glory, proof that the task was reaching its end. The moment when gods hand over the world to humans.

Gripping the dagger firmly, Andra slowly stepped into the passage.

The passage was utterly dark, without any light. Andra tried not to lose her balance as she walked forward deeper into the darkness. At some point, something began to materialize before her eyes. These shapes, too vague to be called light, started to form.

Plague, earthquakes, drought, war…

These were the tasks of the gods. As ordained by the Primordial God, the gods had given humans tasks to solve, and each time, humans had overcome these challenges on their own. At the end of it all was always Dean, who was suffering and crumbling. He appeared as a disaster and vanished as one.

Passing through countless tasks, the seventh task unfolded before Andra. Was it the god of mischief and love? Basham made those who shouldn’t love fall in love and made them believe it wasn’t love. Their task was to eventually realize that their feelings for each other were indeed love.

Andra was familiar with this story. Wasn’t it a famous classic? A tragic love story passed down through centuries of literature. Was this also a task of the gods? Was the praise of love as the greatest emotion also influenced by a task?

Next came the eighth task, the one she least wanted to face. Born into famously feuding families were Andra Avelin and Dustin Airak. They were tied by a terrible fate. It was destiny decided by the gods. Thus, the two despised and scorned each other, constantly tearing each other down.

‘I threw it away, in the lake.’

‘You’re not even human.’

Andra and Dustin did not hesitate to hurt each other. For that pain would only make the pain where they fell in love later more intense. To love yet hate just as much. These impure emotions compelled them to cling to one another, yet also hurt them.

And so they waited, until one, or both, faced ruin.

Tears burst forth from her eyes.

Andra stopped walking. Her heart felt tight, and breathing became difficult. Regret surged over her. If she couldn’t change fate, she should have accepted it sooner. She should have confessed her love to him earlier. There were numerous chances to accept his feelings, yet she foolishly circled around the shortest path without taking it.

Is it too late now?

Andra looked down at her feet. She was standing at the edge of a cliff. Below, lava bubbled fiercely. Just a few more steps and she would fall, disappearing without a trace. She lifted her head to the sound of footsteps that had been following her.

“Dean.”

The man who had sacrificed everything for his love for Anat, ultimately forsaking even himself, was standing a few steps away.

“You’re crying.”

“I’ve just realized. How foolish I’ve been.”

Tears streamed down Andra’s face. It had gone too far to turn back. What if she had told Dustin she loved him a little sooner? Would anything have changed? Thinking about it now wouldn’t make any difference.

“I’m not Anat.”

“I know.”

“But for your Anat, you need me.”

Humans who inherited the task from Anat and Dean had to resolve it. In this eighth task, Andra and Dustin were those humans, that was why Andra could occasionally glimpse into Anat’s past.

So, Anat was subtly helping her. And she said, please save Dean.

“Because Nera made it so.”

Even in the moments when everything was going wrong, the disaster was to prevent humans from suffering. Nera had always hoped that Dean would end as a disaster. And she wished for his complete downfall. To make sure he could never return to her sister, to ensure his absolute ruin.

“Dean.”

The one who had received God’s love yet also God’s hate.

“What you want, cannot happen.”

“We’ll see when we try.”

“You don’t understand. Your memory isn’t whole.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Dean approached Andra. He soon noticed the dagger in her hand. His eyes briefly shadowed with sadness. Not Anat, but now a woman embodying Anat’s will. Or was it Nera’s?

It didn’t matter to him. Regardless of what she chose, he was intent on bringing about this world’s destruction.