Chapter 118
“It was all because of that fishy-smelling bitch that an Outer God suddenly invaded Earth.”
Clink.
Lea whispered while stroking the teacup. Ian spent a long time wondering who the fishy-smelling bitch was, then tilted his head and replied cautiously.
“……Kim Yul?”
“……What bitch is that?”
Lea's voice instantly turned cold. That didn't seem to be the right answer.
Then there was only one possibility left.
“Master of the Outer Sea?”
“……That's what she's called too. A foul-tempered, possessive idiot of a bitch who eats whatever she doesn't like first.”
“…….”
“And she's also a competitor daring to aim for the same thing as me.”
Lea said that and stared straight at Ian.
Her gaze lay somewhere between ash gray and pure white. Her irises and pupils held a hazy, dreamlike look, and Ian's reflection was clearly mirrored there. Ian let out a low hum without looking away.
He let Lea's hostility toward the Master of the Outer Sea slide.
Outer Gods didn't need to get along with each other. They were the authors of the two grimoires Ian owned, but as long as they didn't greatly affect magic, it didn't matter whether they fought among themselves or not. If one of them ended up dead, that would be a serious problem, but he didn't think they'd cross that line in such a way.
Even at the bare minimum, they were older than Earth. Unless they'd wasted all that time in vain, even gods who did as they pleased would know enough to keep to some sort of line.
Anyway.
‘He was probably referring to the incident when the Master of the Outer Sea descended during Pygmalion.’
Other than that, the Master of the Outer Sea had never interfered with Earth. So the answer was obvious.
“If it had fully descended, it wouldn't have mattered.”
Reconstruction of All Things took a sip of tea and said.
Transparent flowers faintly bloomed beneath her feet. Like a mirror cracking and warping, the fully bloomed petals scattered rainbows in every direction. Reconstruction of All Things quietly stared at the flower, then trampled it barefoot, crushing the petals.
Crunch.
The beautifully shattered mirror flower scattered across the floor. Lea's face was reflected in every one of those petals.
“I don't want to admit it, but the Master of the Outer Sea is a being of the same caliber as me. For that Song of Melancholy to brazenly stick its head in is basically the same as asking to be killed.”
“…….”
“Even so, the fact that it showed itself means it had a good reason. That reason was an incomplete descent.”
“……So an incomplete descent makes it look easy?”
“No. It was just enough to draw attention.”
Lea transformed the broken mirror petals into butterflies. Fluttering softly, the mirror-made butterflies flew toward the flower. A few of them landed on Lea's shoulder.
“Hmm... to put it in analogy, I'd say it's like a black hole that's gotten smaller. Terrifying to deal with, but still something that can attack for a moment and then flee. That sort of thing.”
“……Outer Gods attack black holes too?”
“There are many who make the void their home. Some even gather in groups. Anyway.”
Lea cut a small piece of the cake on the plate with her fork and ate it, staring at the butterfly perched on her shoulder.
“To put it simply, the Master of the Outer Sea partially descended, and several Outer Gods became aware of Earth's existence and sensed the aura of the grimoires there. The Song of Melancholy was close to promotion, so it poked its head in first. If it absorbs a grimoire, it can aim to raise its rank.”
“Mm...”
“So yes, it's all that bitch's fault. A lowlife bitch who couldn't resist a moment's desire. That's the Master of the Outer Sea.”
At the vulgar insult, Ian gave a wry smile. Their relationship seemed far worse than he'd imagined.
“Aren't you and the Master of the Outer Sea sworn enemies?”
“We haven't had a big fight. To begin with, our spheres of activity are different, so we don't run into each other often. Other than the occasional visit from that side, I haven't once gone looking for it myself.”
“Really? Then that's a relief.”
Ian cut off a piece of the fluffy cake and brought it to his mouth. Sweet cream, sponge, sugar water, and fruit flavor blended together nicely on his tongue.
It was probably food Lea had created herself. If the taste, texture, ingredients, and composition were perfectly reproduced, it seemed even possible to make food exactly identical to the original. A feat only an Outer God who could create something from nothing could manage.
Of course, even if Ian mastered magic perfectly, recreating air as cake would be impossible. He could only work on things if he had the necessary ingredients.
He didn't think that was a pity.
After all, how could gods and humans possibly stand on the same level? That would be far too unfair to the gods.
‘Still, with magic at my level, I should at least be able to respond.’
The Moon's assault had been far too sudden. If he'd had enough time and known in advance, he wouldn't have been so helpless. He still had the top predators of the Outer Sea that he hadn't summoned yet, and alchemical items he could make from divine flesh and the like.
He couldn't guarantee victory, but he might be able to prevent defeat from being certain.
Of course, the conditions would have to line up and he'd need to be lucky. But if that could still make a cosmic god crash down to Earth, it would be worth it.
“…….”
Ian drained his tea while imagining the cosmos spread out beyond the pure white sky.
‘Either way, for the time being—no, probably for my whole life—those assorted Outer Gods won't be coming to Earth. Reconstruction of All Things had set things up. But if it was a being of the same caliber as her, it could ignore all that and invade anyway.’
As much as they might not care to invade a tiny pale blue dot on the edge of the universe, there was always the possibility.
To prevent even that possibility, it was wise to make his own preparations. The head of Laplace might go off the deep end at any moment and summon an Outer God written in the grimoire.
“…….”
He felt like he finally understood why everyone in the world hated and shunned people who possessed grimoires of Outer Gods.
A mage who, if he went mad, could hit the self-destruct button and blow himself up along with Earth? Leaving that alone would be even crazier.
Ian put down his teacup, sincerely admiring how calm Cecilia and Seo-ah could remain even after learning the grimoires existed. The clinking sound rang out clearly.
“Just in case, can I ask for some of your flesh too? Or maybe blood.”
“I don't have any blood to give you. As for flesh... hmm, want to see for yourself?”
Lea said that and snapped off one of her fingers. The finger, snapped like a straw, fell onto the table, and Ian stared at it intently, narrowing his brow.
“……It looks a little weird.”
What had been a perfectly ordinary finger while it was attached to Lea's hand transformed into a grotesque shape the moment it was separated. To Ian's eyes, it looked like a long fish, and also like some revolting thing with several eyes and arms. It was hard to tell exactly which.
“It's far beyond the level of cognition.”
Lea said as she reattached her finger.
“If I took it away carelessly, it would just attract bugs. It's a shame, but I don't think I can give you any body parts. I'll give you something else instead.”
“Something else?”
When Ian tilted his head and asked, she grabbed the mirror butterfly perched on her shoulder and crushed it.
Crash!
With a clear chime, the butterfly turned into a tiny bottle.
An ordinary-looking bottle. Lea opened the stopper without hesitation and brought the mouth to her lips. Then she brushed her falling hair aside and parted her lips.
“……Bleh.”
Saliva streamed from between her parted lips. The falling fluid was gently collected inside the bottle, and Ian frowned as he watched. But Lea didn't care.
“……Phew, this should be enough.”
A moment later, she closed the stopper on the saliva-filled bottle and handed it to Ian. Ian hesitated for quite a while over whether to take it, then let out a long sigh and finally accepted it, using his index finger and thumb to keep the contact area as small as possible.
“…….”
The bottle of saliva was very warm. Honestly, it was warm enough to use as a hand warmer.
Of course, for the sake of human dignity, he wouldn't even try such a thing.
“……This should be useful in alchemy too, right?”
“It should work as a substitute for materials labeled 'Great One.' But it's only a single use, so be careful.”
“……It looks a bit odd, but thanks anyway. I'll make good use of it.”
Ian stuffed the bottle of saliva into the inner pocket of his coat.
It was warm.
“Then it's about time we said goodbye. The idiot living in the sea seems to be in a bad mood.”
As Ian let out a fake cough at the warmth spreading through his chest, Lea whispered as she rose from her seat.
In the far distance of her vision, she could see a black-haired girl trying to get inside the nebula.
Her face, however, was far from human. She must have rushed in so quickly that she hadn't even managed to imitate it properly.
Either way, it didn't matter. Lea asked Ian to stand up as well, then stood right in front of him and looked up at him.
The gap between the two of them was less than 1 cm. At such a close distance that they could feel each other's breath, she parted her red lips.
“If there's something to give, there should be something to receive too.”
“……What?”
“Let's exchange. I should get what I'm due too.”
Lea said that and tilted her head toward Ian without even waiting for an answer.
“Mmph.”
At the same time, Ian's vision was instantly painted pure white, and his breathing was briefly cut off. A thick hyacinth scent drifted in through his nose. The soft, moist, and hot touch of saliva on his lips was conveyed in full.
It was closer to a lip press than to a kiss. They simply pressed their lips together and did nothing else, staring into each other's eyes all the while.
“…….”
“…….”
That made one second.
Two seconds.
And then three seconds.
“Pwah.”
At last, Lea pulled away and stepped back a few paces. Ian stared at her, dumbfounded.
“……You.”
“This is what kissing feels like. Seeing the Master of the Outer Sea do it with you made me think I absolutely had to try it too, so it was worth it.”
“…….”
“Of course, the form is very different... but I prefer this one. Mm, that felt nice.”
Lea smiled shyly and took a step toward Ian.
“You're not going to say you hated it, are you? You did it with the Master of the Outer Sea too, after all.”
“……No, that was an accident—”
“I liked it. What about you?”
“…….”
“Can I do it one more time?”
Ian didn't answer. That became the clearest answer of all, and Lea, keeping a little distance, leaned in and gave him a brief kiss. Her nonexistent heart beat slowly.
Their lips came together again and parted a full five seconds later. Lea wiped Ian's saliva from her lips with the back of her hand, her cheeks and ears turning bright red.
“Haa.”
“…….”
“As expected, it feels good. I think I understand why humans are so fixated on such pointless acts.”
Lea said that and placed a hand on Ian's cheek.
“See you later, you. It probably won't take that long. The grimoire will be hard to use for a while, but don't worry. You should still be able to use it about three times a day without any trouble.”
“That's a relief.”
“Yes. And... um... this is embarrassing, but I think I have to say this.”
Lea smiled faintly and gave Ian a light push.
“I love you.”
Thump.
Ian's body was pushed backward with no resistance at all. He toppled over under a gravity that shouldn't exist in space, and whispered in a small voice.
“……See you again.”
“Yes, next time too.”
Lea wore a gentle smile.
Ian thought it was the most natural and beautiful expression he'd seen so far.
And then, thump.
His consciousness went dark.
*
The moment his consciousness returned, Ian realized he was standing alone in the living room of a detached house, holding a box.
The wall-mounted TV that had been installed was silent, showing only a black screen instead of singing about tiny stars, and the scenery beyond the window was utterly ordinary. The stench of blood had also disappeared. Only a thick winter scent lingered in the air.
“Am I... back?”
Ian muttered blankly for a moment, when Cecilia, who had left the computer in the master bedroom, wiped the sweat from her neck and tapped Ian's side.
“What's wrong all of a sudden? Standing there blankly like that... are you hurt...?”
“……Ah, Cecilia.”
Ian turned his gaze to her. After checking that Cecilia's ears and legs were all still in place, he made a strange expression and then gave a bitter smile as he spoke.
“Can you still hear well?”
“……? I can hear just fine. Why?”
The answer came back as if it were only natural. Ian looked into Cecilia's clear violet eyes and gave a faint smile.
“No, it's nothing. More importantly, let's clean up and eat. What do you want? My treat.”
“Ah, then I'll have jajangmyeon. And order some ganpunggi, dongpo pork, and tangsuyuk too...”
Cecilia rattled off the menu with an energized expression. Ian set the box down and let out a quiet laugh.
His mood... was actually pretty good.