The primordial beings whispering among themselves had known for a long time. That the entrance to Tartarus, where ice and lava coexisted, was a vast salt lake.
By day, great clouds drifted elegantly across its mirror-like surface; by night, moonlight poured down as if collapsing upon it. To Pontos, who prized refinement and dignity above all, it was an incomparably satisfying sight.
And the only key capable of opening and closing that beauty lay in his own hands.
*Crash!*
Without warning, an enormous column of water burst upward, piercing through the surface. Pontos, who had been sitting and conversing with Ananke, rose to his feet in alarm. The cracked surface groaned as it split gradually all the way to the water's edge, trembling.
*Boom! Crash!*
A second pillar of water erupted from all sides. *Whoosh.* The jets that shot up like fountains cascaded down like waterfalls upon the surface. Broken fragments of ice floated here and there upon the water like stepping stones.
White steam curled like a veil, enveloping the lakeshore.
*Splash.*
Water splashed heavily at the lake's edge. Someone was wading out of the water. Firmly fastened around both his wrists were black shackles made from the crystallized essence of Erebus.
"K-Kallian...?"
Ananke cried out in surprise. Pontos stood speechless. Kallian raised his head slightly and shook the water from his hair.
His amethyst-colored eyes blazed like flames. They flashed red, then burned again with killing intent, repeating the cycle.
It was his usual way of expressing anger—only occasionally revealing a revulsion akin to extreme mysophobia, like snow blanketing a snowfield.
Pontos, falling into confusion, stared at the spear in his hand.
Had he ever swung this spear? Had he been so distracted by his conversation with Ananke that he had opened the gate to the lake without realizing it? Without even noticing that Tartarus was being opened?
But that would be too foolish. He couldn't call himself the warden of the prison... No, could he even claim to be Pontos of the Sea, one of the Five Thrones?
The lake's surface was utterly destroyed, reduced to scorched earth, and some of the floating ice fragments were being stepped on by Kallian, who had emerged above the water, sinking beneath the surface.
The soft earth lining the lakeshore had turned into a bloodstained quagmire—his skin completely flayed off—stained black-red by the moisture and blood from his wounds after he had burst through Tartarus's lava.
"How in the world did you get out?"
"I just walked out."
"J-Just...?"
"The spray blocking my sight was somewhat irritating, so I raised an air current... As you can see, it ended up in this state. I will restore the damage later."
Tartarus was Pontos's pride and honor, overseeing the punishment of their kind, and not a single aspect of its design from beginning to end had passed without his hand.
In all of history, not a single Keton had escaped this place alone, by any means whatsoever. Such a sacrilegious act had never even been attempted.
"Ah."
Kallian thrust out both wrists as if he had just remembered. The shackles binding his two hands together were shoved right under Pontos's chin.
"Surely... you aren't asking me to unlock these?"
"Then would I have extended them to ask you to spit on them?"
Pontos wore an absurd expression. Ananke made a face as though her head ached.
"Calm yourself and listen, my son. You haven't even been awake for a fraction of a moment yet. Do you know how much I suffered these past two days gathering your scattered essence?"
At the mention of two days, Kallian gazed beyond the lake. Having returned to his true body, he could feel her safety as clearly as before.
Steady breathing, stable blood flow and body temperature. She was asleep. Fortunately, she still seemed safe. But he could not rest easy.
Just then, dark clouds piled thickly in the sky, and a gale appeared between flashing bolts of lightning, landing on the ground with a low roar.
Uranus revealed himself amidst the whirlwind, clad in an indigo chiton. His hem flapping, he opened his mouth with a fierce expression.
"Nysa has moved."
Pontos, who had been crossing his arms, raised an eyebrow. Ananke asked, as if she had already expected this.
"Moved, you say—to where?"
Uranus turned around. Then, the situation that had been hidden behind his broad back was revealed.
Beyond the devastated salt lake, fog was thick. With a hiss upon the once-tranquil shore, a gate of black barrier opened.
From within the oval barrier, young Ketons poured out one after another like soldier ants. Their movements were light and agile, but to the experienced eyes of the older generation, they appeared far too confident, even careless.
"They've set their sights on this place."
Tartarus was located at the very edge of the world, so much so that it was called the womb of Gaia—a land that had endured every hardship, swallowing the boiling primal aura seething at the bottom of the dark and damp lake within a hollowed valley.
A primordial being of sound mind would spit in the opposite direction of Tartarus even if they merely sneezed. The Ketons were even more so. They considered it inauspicious to come near it even by mistake and shunned it greatly.
Thus, this was a place where no one would interfere even if a landslide occurred or the ground caved in. Even if they happened to see something, it was a place where they would promptly close their eyes and turn away.
"What in the world is this chaos? Reactionaries?"
"The signs of unrest have always been in the air."
They had already formed ranks after exiting the barrier. From within, a male Keton walked out like a leader. He spread both arms and shouted.
"Behold, all of you!"
Was this the one who had inherited Seath's role? His face was brimming with confidence as he led the riled-up crowd and stoked their morale.
"How long do you think the glory of the declining Thrones will last? Look at the absurd state of Tartarus. Its authority crumbled long ago!"
The ones on this side were speechless.
"Who is that? He looks like one who hasn't even lived a thousand years."
"Well... whoever he is, he clearly has never experienced what authority truly means."
In response to Pontos's question, Uranus narrowed his brow, trying to make out the face of the one standing at the very front.
Meanwhile, the male Keton continued his heated speech.
"They have grown dull and backward from starving so long. The time has come to bring the authority of Olympus to Nysa. We are the face of a new era. A stronger breath. The true children of chaos! Let us make them feel the humiliation of the prostrate!"
"Waaah!" A cheer erupted. Watching the scene, Pontos scraped the ground with his trident and spoke.
"That is the problem with coveting human blood. They become strangely human-like. Easily excited, easily angered, easily arrogant...."
"We bring word to the Five Thrones!"
Why not say it all at once? Ananke made a look of disgust, and Uranus averted his gaze.
"To think there was such a fool...."
Truly lacking in elegance. Unbecoming of a Keton, who should be destructive and unrelenting....
"Disgraceful."
As if saying he would strike them down, Uranus clutched a thunderbolt in his hand.
*Crackle.*
Across the lake, the young Ketons cried out in surprise and scrambled backward. Was that the chieftain's thunderbolt they had only heard of in tales? As expected, the degree to which Erebus's power was condensed was no joke. They said even a graze would melt flesh and bone into sludge, requiring years of regeneration.
They swallowed dryly. Hesitating as they wondered if he was going to attack already, they wavered, and Ananke clicked her tongue once more.
"We demand of the Five Thrones! We wish for Kallian, who arbitrarily fed Seath the waters of oblivion and permanently crippled his body, to be punished by our hands!"
They had seemed to target the entire Five Thrones, yet suddenly they came out demanding to hand over just one. The ones on this side were bewildered.
The person in question, Kallian, cast a narrowed gaze beyond the lake as if it were trivial.
But the most important one was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Nyx?"
Come to think of it... the remaining Thrones also widened the radius of their vision and tensed.
*Vrrrm.*
Suddenly, a sound of vibrating air came from somewhere. Within the billowing fog, a black door hissed open. Through the slightly open crack, a sinister hand poked out. In its grip was a spear shaft prepared in advance.
The black tip, prepared with every precaution, was coated with a breath imbued with all manner of deadly poison, yin energy, and curses.
"Hup!"
Ananke clutched her side and collapsed to her knees. Surprised, Uranus turned around. She had been struck by the spear.
Uranus immediately assumed a posture to hurl the thunderbolt in his hand, but the sly Nyx cackled and quickly concealed himself inside the barrier he had opened beforehand.
Ananke collapsed on the ground, her face contorted in pain. Lying on her side, she pressed her elbow against her gushing wound.
Pontos and Uranus were at a loss for words. To think he would openly attack a fellow Throne. Did he truly intend to turn all of them into enemies?
They had known he harbored much resentment toward Ananke, but they had not expected him to act so despicably and insidiously.
"Pontos... hear my words without distortion."
Even so, Ananke spoke, catching her breath.
"Nyx's madness is now irreversible. I have finally learned the reason why he went mad. And why the Eye of my Fate did not work... We can no longer simply stand by. A conclusion must be reached."
Conclusion. It was not a word easily used among the Ketons. Because they knew such a thing was impossible.
"I request Kallian's temporary release."
"..."
"Neither I, nor Uranus, nor you, Pontos, can completely stop Nyx. Do you not all know this? We are immortal—beings who cannot destroy one another, whether ourselves or our brothers."
Pontos's face grew heavy with thought. Having witnessed Nyx's madness firsthand, it was true that some measure had to be taken.
"Kallian... is he capable of stopping him?"
"Perhaps."
Pontos looked at Kallian as if to confirm once more. Kallian listened without much interest, even though it was about himself. Even so, a strange sense of urgency could be felt in the sidelong glances he cast, as if urging them to decide quickly.
He had no leisure to idly quarrel here now. Asteril was with the blonde madman. That one was nearly as deranged as Nyx. He had no time to waste on such commotion.
"I grant your request, Ananke."
The moment Pontos finished speaking, Kallian strode over and, of his own accord, scraped the shackles up and down against Pontos's spear. With a screech, the lock clicked open.
"We must take Ananke to Thalassa. Her wound is not regenerating."
Uranus said with a grave expression.
"It seems he scavenged something tainted with Erebus's breath and mixed it with all manner of toxic substances. He targeted her weakened state from being deprived of ambrosia for so long."
Unlike the other Thrones, Ananke constantly activated her unique ability throughout the year, so in truth, she was in the most exhausted state.
With Gaia gone, Thalassa, with her dexterous hands, was the right person for the delicate work of removing poison from the blood vessels.
"Kallian."
Uranus narrowed his eyes as if displeased, looking at the Ketons scattered beyond the lake like pebbles.
"Remove them."
Kallian twisted his freed hands left and right. A cracking sound of bones settling into place rang out. His eyes began to blaze brilliantly as he activated Erebus's power.
"Fill them with a terror greater than Tartarus."
Uranus spoke through gritted teeth, as if growling. The gale prostrated itself willingly, as if telling him to step on its back. Kallian moved, riding the wind laid across the lake together with a flashing radiance.
"You're sending Kallian alone?"
"He is enough."
At Uranus's words, Pontos lowered the trident he had been holding in anticipation. After taking the seat of a Throne, it had been nothing but the tedious task of guarding Tartarus.
There had been far more exciting matters when the world was in turmoil in the past.
In an instant, Kallian flew to the other side of the lake. Holding Hanpung, which dangled from his right hand, in the form of a blade, he landed gracefully atop a large boulder.
The young Ketons murmured among themselves, looking up at him. His overbearing gaze swept over each and every one of them. They were all, without exception, unimpressive.
Now then, who shall be whipped first?
Watching Kallian wait like an authority figure holding a rod, they all swallowed dryly.
They, too, had heard the rumors. They said he was even more terrible than their chieftain, Uranus. There were also tales that he had inherited the dread lady Ananke's abilities. A perfect hybrid, was he not? The supreme masterpiece crafted by the deputy god.
Amidst the whispering voices, someone walked out boldly.
"You came looking for me of your own accord, Kallian."
It was the one who had been making noise like a parrot since earlier. They said there were lands among mortals that worshipped parrots as sacred... was this such a place? To think Erebus's authority had fallen so far....
The male Keton looked up at Kallian standing on the boulder, smirked, then raised his hand. With a hiss, a current of air formed within his clenched fist.
"Look, I can do this much too. You created Hanpung before becoming an adult? So what? It was completely easy when I tried it. Isn't that right, Kallian? Hey, look at me! I'm talking to you, where are you looking!"
Kallian cast a sidelong glance as if telling him to be quiet. His gaze was directed beyond the crowd of young Ketons. To be precise, toward the black curtain visible behind them.
"Pretending as if nothing's wrong... Did you think you were the only one who could control wind? And what? Kallian the Judge? Judgment? Ah, was *that* what you call what you did to Seath?"
Behind the group of Ketons, a wide dark veil spread like black smoke. It was Nyx's breath. Without showing himself, was he displaying only his presence to incite the young ones? Whispering plausible words into their ears, just as he had done to Psyche.
"Did you all see? This so-called Kallian the Judge, a member of the Five Thrones no less, stands there like a mute who ate honey. Look at him frozen up there, unable to answer a single word I say."
Kallian thought. Cutting out Seath's tongue and feeding him the waters of oblivion had been a mistake. He should have let the fellow wail and babble about what had been done to him in every direction instead.
"Has any among us properly witnessed Kallian's abilities? No one, I wager. He is merely overhyped as the chieftain's successor. Today, I shall properly strip away that facade. Those interested, follow me."
The fellow glared with red eyes and approached the base of the rock where Kallian stood. Several Ketons joined behind him.
Faces flushed and emboldened by his three-inch tongue were visible. Kallian was alone, and they were many. To be swept away by mob mentality like humans....
Pathetic beyond words.
Kallian raised his right hand. Hanpung coiled around his wrist and opened its maw. A sharp blade of wind aimed at the opponent's vital point, following his gaze.
"You."
His voice lowered to match his slanted downward gaze, seizing the breath. The male Keton looked up with wide eyes. Kallian's long hair fluttered in the hues of night. Yet strangely, his hand glowed yellowish, as if imbued with moonlight.
"Come up."
Kallian commanded with a flick of his hand. The male Keton grimaced, twisting his cheek muscles. That overbearing posture. That was exactly what he resented. How dare he look down on them like that? What made him so great?
He stomped on empty air and leaped up to Kallian's eye level. At his movement, light as the wind, the other Ketons cheered as if in admiration.
"You've been going on about Seath since earlier. Have you gone to see what state Seath is in now?"
The male Keton, whose body had floated up, felt himself tilting. His arms and legs were bound like ropes by Hanpung's breath.
"Huh? What... Let go, will you?"
With brutal force, Hanpung hung him upside down in the air. He sensed Kallian's shadow drawing so close that his nose was nearly touching his shin.
The blue sky of dawn spread beyond his shoulders like a horizon. A chill seeped into his pounding heart.
"Or are you this excited because you only saw the two eyeballs Nyx brought out? Surely you aren't thinking that at worst, you'd lose an eye or two?"
His heart began to race so hard it rang in his ears. Hanging upside down, he clacked his teeth together. His entire body felt submerged in an ice bath.
Kallian's figure, looking down with an expression that seemed ready to trample him, grew larger and larger, filling his vision. He felt as if he were being swallowed whole. A presence growing mountainously vast, killing intent striking down like a thunderbolt.
Pressed down by his momentum and authority, his entire body felt so crushed that it seemed to be shoved underground.
*Ah...*
He wanted to bite down hard on his tongue. But he already realized it was irreversible. Ah, this wasn't supposed to happen. His thoughts stopped there.
*Shiiik.*
The severed neck fell from the air with a thud. The head, struck against a jutting rock, rolled across the mud with one side caved in.
His body, which had been dangling in the air, fell to the ground like a doll with its strings cut. His body, joints twisted and wedged between rocks, trembled before going limp.
Though his neck was severed, the male Keton was still breathing. He hurriedly cast a sideways glance. The moment he located his body, he took a deep breath to regenerate.
"There is no need. You will no longer require hands or feet."
Kallian, who had descended to the ground, stepped on the head rolling like a ball.
"Urk... Uk! Kuaaack..."
The male Keton stuck his tongue out and began to gurgle. A yellowish light was being extracted from the top of his head. His vision flickered. His consciousness grew hazy. His eyes rolled back as he convulsed upside down.
The yellowish, pale fluid was drawn out like a long wisp of smoke and sucked into Kallian's grasp as if being wound around it.
When Kallian clenched his fist, strands of light that seeped between his fingers like smudges shattered with a crack, like water droplets striking the surface.
The trembling male Keton's body also slumped like a fallen sack.
As Hanpung exhaled a breath, his crushed head and sprawled torso began to oxidize, corroded. Soon, the body that lost its form turned to powder with a whoosh and scattered in the wind, disappearing.
*Gasp.*
Someone swallowed a scream with a face contorted in fear. The other Ketons, who had been unable to breathe in the murderous atmosphere, retreated falteringly.
Kallian raised his hand. Then, the bodies of the Ketons who had swaggered out thoughtlessly following the one who had just died also began to lift into the air. They flailed their hands and struggled.
Were they asking to be saved? Or claiming it was a misunderstanding? Kallian, gauging their intentions, made an expression as if to say, "So what?"
The throats of those who had been screaming were severed with a swish by a blade of wind that reaped the air like a sickle.
"I-Impossible... All of us, alone... Y-you'll fight us all...?"
One Keton with a severed neck wheezed. Kallian looked at him and raised his hand. The yellowish light smeared across his hand glistened like a membrane.
"Fight?"
A languid voice lowered his gaze even further.
"Was this what they called 'fighting'?"
His purple eyes turned crimson. A single scream echoed. It was so desperate it seemed to tear at everyone's eardrums.
The Ketons clutching their own necks watched in agony as their souls were extracted from the crowns of their heads, their eyes rolled back white.
The annihilation of a Keton.
Never before had they heard or seen that such a thing was possible. A Keton's flesh regenerated endlessly. Therefore, the greatest punishment that could be inflicted upon a Keton was to imprison them in Tartarus, forcing them to feel pain alone in endless solitude while their bodies regenerated. In short, it had all been spiritual torment.
How could this be....
Kallian glanced down at the remaining Ketons. Having witnessed their comrade's death, they were dumbstruck in shock.
Death. The end of life. Eternal annihilation.
That was absolute terror. The moment they felt it, immortality ceased to be immortality, and authority ceased to be authority.
As another chill beam of light seeped from Kallian's hand, the young Ketons began to flee in panic.
Nyx was among them. His blond hair was seen quickly darting into the black barrier as he had been watching the situation hidden within the curtain.
Hanpung exhaled the breath it had stored like a pouch all at once. A great gale swept across the lakeshore. Trees swayed and fell prostrate; shrubs and bushes lost all their leaves and twisted.
The Ketons fleeing into Nyx's barrier were caught in the suddenly roaring whirlwind as if swept away by a torrent and screamed.
"Kuaaaack!"
"Aaaack!"
Kallian, waiting within it, looked at their terrified forms as if they were shards of glass floating on violent waves. He stretched his hand toward the wailing Ketons.
Beams of light drawn out like tree branches flashed, and one by one, Ketons perished, turning into handfuls of sand and vanishing.
"Is this... allowed?"
Pontos watched in a daze. Uranus, who had been watching in silence, looked up at the sky.
Eos embraced the east more tightly. The sky took on a dark hue and turned blue. It was a movement as if trying to delay the dawn as much as possible. The moon was cheering on the judgment.
"This will serve as a fine example."
From this hour onward, it would be known clearly. That an age to reconsider the meaning of immortality had come.
Ψ
Delphi was a city of many clouds, so most of it was always draped in the shadow cast by Uranus's shoulder.
Yet the harmony between the sunlight that slid like a whisper through the overlapping mountain ridges descending from the Aithos Mountains and the mountain clouds draped like a great curtain lent the city a more majestic and mysterious effect.
A city of gold, marble, and bronze. Butterflies and owls, the totems of Ananke, sat with wings spread atop the two pillars symbolizing the city entrance.
Among them, one butterfly was truly fluttering its wings, shimmering, but no one noticed. Even though Ananke's eyes saw everything in this way.
The most powerful breath in Delphi was the oracle chamber of the Great Temple where Pythia resided. Yet besides that, numerous small oracles, distributed like shops, would seat beautiful Sibyls and throw open the bellows of their furnaces wide for wealth to pour in, in order to capture the attention of the city's visitors.
It was so splendid that no one could have dared imagine.
That in Delphi, known as the sanctuary of prophecy and the wealthiest city, a secret rite was held every new moon which no one should know of.
'Why did you only watch?'
Someone asked as if rebuking. Because she knew what was being blamed, she could not answer.
But Kallian was dangerous....
A cowardly excuse came out. Even knowing she shouldn't make excuses, she had dragged him in to use as a shield.
'Ketons are beings inherently indifferent to others. But you are not.'
I was busy on my way. If I had tried to save all the people drinking the kykeon flowing through the waterways, I wouldn't have made it to the Daphne festival.
'Even if you couldn't go.'
Her voice was firm. Her chest stung as if struck. Guilt surged up.
'You know that would have been right. You are, after all, a child who cannot pretend not to know compassion, having taken after me. Even though you loathe such feelings.'
She wanted to ask how she could know that. What could she know about her? It wasn't as though she had stayed by her side all this time.
But no more voice came out. Her consciousness sank beneath the water's surface. Like the days when she had buried her face under the covers and cried in silence.
She didn't know how long she had lain there, but feeling her mind ring like a bell, she barely opened her eyelids.
A headache came on and her body was as heavy as a wet leather shoe. Her surroundings were bright. She was certain she was no longer inside the trap of the old temple.
The bed covered in wool was appropriately soft and warm. Delphi had high demand for warm fabrics and textiles. Because it was a city built in a high mountain region, the daily temperature range was large and it was chilly.
"Shall I bring you a meal?"
It was Midong. A white-skinned boy who looked to be around twelve or thirteen wore a cleanly washed white tunic and a flower crown made of wildflowers that looked like they had been plucked from the temple's back garden upon his forehead.
In the hands of the child who entered through the open door, bread and fruits were neatly arranged in a clay bowl.
"Would you?"
She answered without much thought. Children lowered one's guard. It was possible someone had aimed for that effect.
"Please eat over here."
Behind Midong's small shoulder, a square window was visible. So were elm branches that seemed to embroider the window in a lattice pattern. The straight rays of sunlight passed between them like a hem of clothing Ananke had draped, illuminating the table. Midong placed the bowl there and even poured water and wine into cups.
Water freshly drawn from the spring gulped down, coolly moistening her throat. When even the morning air, still carrying a chill, touched her cheeks, she finally seemed to come to her senses.
Asteril, who had been staring into empty air for a moment, rose from her seat. Standing, she looked in the direction Midong had exited.
She hurriedly left the room and quickly descended the white, narrow stairs. Pushing aside curtains fluttering in the wind and rushing outside clumsily, her feet sank into soft earth.
A simple and small garden appeared, hard to believe it was in the very heart of Delphi.
As if trying to escape the mansion's shadow, a large elm tree bent its body in the opposite direction, snatching her gaze like a net, and beneath the beautiful curve of the canopy sat a round well, half-covered in vines—its body built of rammed earth, its roof raised with firwood.
The children's laughter melted warmly around her ears.
The servant children who had been drawing water from the well, splashing it with a whoosh onto their backs to bathe, widened their eyes upon seeing her.
Asteiril spotted the servant child who had brought her breakfast shortly before. She carefully caught hold of the small, wet shoulder.
"Is something the matter?"
The boy tilted his head, half-naked. He didn't seem particularly wary.
"You... weren't you in Hades before? In Lethe's black marble palace, I mean."
"..."
The servant child stared at Asteiril in silence. Water dripped from his curly hair.
"Ah, this wicked wind again..."
"It is the hour of Hypnos. No one may walk the darkness without the king's command."
There was no doubt. He was the same servant child who had guided her on her first day in Hades.
"Yes, Ninth Persephone. It's nice to see you again."
The boy's eyes creased in a smile as if he had only just realized. His manner was considerably friendlier.
"Why are you..."
"Wondering why I'm here?"
"Yes, how did you end up here?"
The boy glanced sideways. Other servant children gathered around him and Asteiril like clouds. Curious eyes looked up at her.
Looking closely, the children varied in age, mostly boys, though a few girls were scattered among them.
"We are the children of the Mainades."
"The children of the Mainades?"
It was strange. How had such young children been serving in Lethe's palace, where not even the shadow of a person could be seen?
"I mean children whose mothers became Mainades."
The boy twisted his wet hair around his finger once and let it go, gauging the situation. Looking at the other children as if gathering their consent, he continued.
"When our mothers who became Mainades take their last breath... the gods of Nisa send crows to bring us to Lord Eleusis, who is here."
"Why does Eleusis bring you here?"
"Because Lord Eleusis is also a child of the Mainades, just like us!"
One boy in the group spoke up in an excited voice. Then someone hushed him angrily.
"Why did you say that?"
"Why... what's wrong with that..."
"That's supposed to be a secret."
"But Lord Eleusis said she would be with us too."
"Even so..."
The servant child who had been telling the story took a step closer to Asteiril.
"Lord Eleusis is different from us. We were born before our mothers became Mainades, but Lord Eleusis was born from the womb of a mother who had already become a Mainades. He is the only child ever born in Nisa."
The son of Nisa. Was that what it meant? She furrowed her brow at the vaguely unsettling feeling, but the children chirped up again.
"The gods are bad, but Lord Eleusis is a good person."
"That's right!"
"The gods are the ones who killed our mothers."
The children's faces flushed red and blue with anger. They called the earthworms and bugs crawling on the ground "gods" and stomped on them.
The servant child who had been speaking with Asteiril approached on wet feet and whispered in a lowered voice.
"Lord Eleusis made a blasphemous deal with the gods of Nisa to bring us to Delphi."
"What deal?"
He hesitated, fidgeting with his big toes pressed together.
"I... I like you, Persephone. You're kind and gentle. So... please don't hate Lord Eleusis."
"If you tell me more in detail..."
"Oh, Lady Asteiril."
Footsteps sounded from the back door she had come through. Asteiril, intuiting who it was, turned around with a scowl.
"Must you grill a child like that?"
It was Eleusis, returned to the mansion. The servant children ran to him in a single breath and buried themselves in his embrace. A vivid smile hung on his lips as he spread his arms wide to hold them.
Watching the scene, Asteiril was seized by a strange state of mind. She felt as though she were seeing the man's true face for the first time.
A short while later, he called a red-robed Sibylla to take the children away. The boy, who had been glancing at Asteiril until the very end, smiled sunnily, seeming relieved when she waved at him with a faint smile.
The two placed chairs beneath the elm tree and sat side by side. Eleusis offered her a cup. When Asteiril declined, saying she was fine, he spoke.
"I haven't put anything strange in it, so you may drink. It's the same water those children drank."
She glanced at him and reluctantly accepted. He chuckled at her behavior, then gazed at the well with a somewhat weary expression.
"What the child said is true. My mother became a Mainades while pregnant with me. By some harmony of fate, I didn't die in the womb and was born safely. Only my eyes were white and blind."
Born at the altar of Nisa, having witnessed his mother's death, he lived like a bug—barely there, half-existent in the shadows of the gods.
It was a miracle that he survived hunger and cold, and paradoxically, it was also divine protection—if it could be called that—which allowed him to escape the altar and cross the Aethos Mountains.
Having crossed the ravine, he reached Delphi, at the foot of Mount Parnassus. Wandering like a stray beast near the ancient temple, he one day encountered a group of priestesses, who took him to Pythia, the high priestess.
The previous Pythia recognized his special nature at a glance. She hid him deep within Delphi and cared for him, teaching him many things. And when he reached a suitable age, she negotiated with the Tribe of the Sun and disguised him as the adopted son of a tribal elder.
The brilliant Eleusis grew dazzlingly and elevated his name. Having become a high priest of Delphi, he captivated the hearts of the faithful based on the knowledge and worldly wisdom he had received from the priestesses.
But the Tribe of the Sun, whose chief had become head of the elders' council, sought to bring him under their control and use him as they pleased. They commanded Eleusis to continue supporting the Tribe of the Sun materially and to deliver Delphi's oracles according to the council's directives.
Eleusis responded with silence. A few weeks later, the elder of the Tribe of the Sun was found murdered in his mansion. A laurel branch had been placed atop his corpse, as if in brazen display.
After that, no one troubled Eleusis any further. No one dared.
"I am rather fond of riddles, but if someone were to ask me which I loathe more, gods or humans..."
Could there be a more difficult question than that?
"I would be unable to answer. I have pondered it my whole life, yet still cannot choose. Truly, I detest them both immensely."
"So is that why you mock both gods and humans with such false sanctity?"
"False sanctity?"
Asteiril lifted the cup and took a sip of water. Her voice grew a bit smoother.
"A dead person cannot truly return to life. Delphi seemed like an entire city built as a theater stage. You had all sorts of devices installed in the Daphne Sanctuary and the Temple of Cronus, did you not? It seems you've gone to great lengths to fabricate divine authority... you must have had quite a hard time of it."
Eleusis, who had been listening blankly, burst out laughing. "Ha... haha!"
"Theater... a stage, you say... But surely you know what great comfort such a stage provides to humans? You, who gave wings to Princess Thetis because you knew it all too well."
Asteiril said nothing.
"Even before I became high priest, Delphi's oracles were pure illusion and falsehood. What is funnier is that priestesses who truly believed they heard the breath of a god, not knowing it was false, and humans who revered and sincerely feared them, were everywhere underfoot."
"..."
"Even without my feeding them hallucinogens, humans are beings who always live in illusion. Many wish to do so. Because reality is too harsh and unforgiving. The more miserable humans become, the more they seek gods. The closer they are driven to the cliff's edge, the more offerings are laid before the altar. And so the gods..."
He paused for a moment, as if collecting himself. Even though his feet stood not on a cliff's edge but atop a golden altar.
"The gods contemplate how they might make humans even more miserable."
"Ah."
"You think I am lying?"
"It's not that... it just seems the gods you know and the gods I know are somewhat different."
"What?"
"That's a relief. I was actually feeling guilty, wondering if this was some form of self-loathing for my own kind. But you and I aspire to very different things, Lord Eleusis. The gods who pat our heads are different as well."
"The god who strokes your head seems quite benevolent. That must be why such blessings were granted. But even with the power you possess, you could not have healed my eyes. This is a curse from the god I serve."
The more she heard, the more wretched it became. So his misfortune was deliberate, caused by a god? Even cursing him?
Ah.
Another sigh escaped her. Wasn't this man the one truly trapped? A man who could pour out his misfortunes endlessly and never reach the bottom.
Finding oneself so pitiful and wretched, unable to fathom—unable to accept—why one had been sentenced to such a life, one searches and searches for a target at which to lodge the arrow of resentment, and eventually turns it toward the heavens.
Would every bow now aimed at him be seen as divine punishment...? Or would he take it as an endless curse?
Watching her silence, Eleusis asked as if he had been wondering for a while.
"Do you not ask what became of that man's corpse?"
"You would have dealt with it. I'm sure you handled it well."
When she replied indifferently, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
"In truth, the corpse has disappeared. As you said, I had been keeping it well, but there were no signs of anyone intruding into the mortuary... and later, there was only a pile of dirt; the body had vanished without a trace."
Eleusis observed her reaction carefully.
"And so?"
"Are you saying you know nothing of this?"
"I was lying unconscious somewhere I didn't even know. How would I know anything? I don't even know whether I lay there for a day, two days, or a week. Come to think of it, how long was I lying there?"
"Two days."
"I see."
She was a curious woman. At first, he had thought her dazzling and gentle as sunlight. It was easy to see why the Demeterians loved her, and why she was hailed as the miracle of Cocytus.
But now she was colder and more composed than Eos's frostbitten gaze. No matter what words were thrown at her, she barely wavered. Her grief was brief, her surprise fleeting.
Even so, her judgment at every moment was cautious. She observed everything thoroughly and kept her own counsel. She was no easy opponent.
"Lady Asteiril."
"Yes."
She answered without even meeting his eyes now. It seemed easier on her to look at the empty air. Even so, she sipped the water she had so disliked.
"Will you not join me?"
"In what?"
She cast a sidelong glance. Eleusis felt a strange thrill at the gaze she threw him.
"You are too precious a being to remain in a place like Demeter. That uncivilized kingdom cannot contain you. The same goes for Poseidonia. No one could deny that Delphi is the most excellent land for creating legends."
Eleusis held a faint smile on his lips.
"What do you say to becoming Delphi's high priestess alongside me? With your abilities, you could produce miraculous scenes never before seen or heard of. The Daphne Sanctuary would burn like a furnace. Delphi would wield even greater power."
What in the world did this man want to do with the world in his hands? He didn't seem to possess a particular lust for power like the late King Tyndareus.
"Lady Asteiril, miracles must exist only in Delphi. I will not permit them elsewhere."
"Permit? Who will not?"
"I will."
"Ah."
That was her final exclamation. As if she understood, she placed the water cup on the chair and stood.
She ought to go find Bukpung. She needed to ask what had become of Callian.
Thinking back on the story Mnemosyne had once told her, it seemed that when a clay doll could no longer function, its fluid naturally returned to the main body. She presumed the doll's destruction wouldn't affect the main body's life or death, but...
The problem was the peculiarity of the old temple where the accident had occurred. Because of the barrier that blocked Erebus's power, his fluid had been forcibly ejected. The fact that there had been no word from him since was hardly a good sign. This was Callian, who had used every possible means to reach her even when trapped in Tartarus.
If only Lady Aris were here at a time like this.
Regret welled up in her lips like a sigh. Let's go, let's go find Bukpung.
Watching Asteiril turn sharply away as if she had heard nothing, Eleusis could not hide his dumbfounded expression.
Was she... ignoring his proposal right now? The position of Delphi's high priestess?
He suddenly strode toward the back of the well. A small side gate was hidden in the vine-covered wall.
"You said you were searching for Asphodelos?"
Asteiril's heel finally turned in an arc. Surprise flickered in her eyes. It was her longest and clearest reaction yet. Eleusis spoke briefly.
"Follow me."
Watching Eleusis vanish beyond the door, Asteiril hesitated, then followed him, having no other choice.
It was a wide, open lot.
A foul stench hung in the air. Charred firewood rolled atop blackened earth, and shed clothing and rusted accessories were visible.
It wasn't very far. Close enough to make out faces with the naked eye. Sturdy wooden pillars had been raised high. Three women were bound to them.
"Penelope... Sister...?"
Seeing the face of the woman bound to the center pillar, Asteiril's thoughts ground to a halt.
"S-Sister..."
She exhaled in shock and took a step forward. Then elder priestesses appeared from somewhere and blocked her.
"Let go! Let me go!"
They were impossibly strong; there was no resisting. The elder priestesses gripping her arms dragged her back without a word. To the side where Eleusis stood.
"If you wish to save her, it would be best to listen to me."
Thrown to the ground, Asteiril looked up at him, propped on her hands. Her gaze was filled with a hatred incomparable to what she had shown before.
"Why go this far? What meaning is there in recruiting me like this..."
"Ah, this is not being done for you, Lady Asteiril. It is being done for Asphodelos. The tree that bears ambrosia. You came searching for it as well, did you not? Why? To eat ambrosia?"
"..."
"Unfortunately, only a single grain of ambrosia remained in Cronus's sacred domain. But that is not enough. It is insufficient. Though I can see ahead, my eyes have still not opened."
The inherited ambrosia left in the final fourth chamber. And Eleusis had consumed it.
"Looking at the murals left in the temple, there seems to be some secret in the ritual of burning the bodies of the Mainades... That is why, every month on the dark moon, I have been burning women who became Mainades."
He spoke such horrifying words nonchalantly. As if he were merely gathering fallen leaves for kindling, as if it were nothing.
"But nothing happened. I tried on the full moon as well, on the day of the morning star, on days of rain and thunder, even during an eclipse, but to no avail."
The night in Hades came to mind once more. Callian burning the Mainades. His eyes watching in silence. They were painfully vivid and unforgettable, like an aurora spreading across a black night—impossible to tear from her mind.
"So I thought."
The elder priestesses came holding torches. They stood before each pillar where the unconscious women were bound, awaiting Eleusis's signal.
"Might the issue be not the timing of the burning, but the subject? Should I have used ordinary humans as sacrifices instead of Mainades? Or is there another condition for selecting the subject?"
That couldn't be it. The women burned in Hades had also been Mainades.
"In Nisa, they often burned Mainades who had reached their limit as well. They always killed them by fire. Since the gods there act only to fulfill my selfish desire, there must surely be a reason. But just in case. There's no harm in checking, is there?"
"You're saying you'll burn innocent people just on a whim? Are you... sane?"
"I do think Mainades are the answer... but I believe there's no harm in checking once. I enjoy experimenting with everything, you see."
"No!"
As the elder priestesses raised their torches, Asteiril screamed and clung to Eleusis's hem.
"Stop, please! Don't do this. This has no meaning. It's just torture!"
"If you accept my proposal, I shall spare Princess Penelope."
"The others as well. If you promise to save all three of them there, I will accept."
"Ah..."
Eleusis narrowed his brow and fell into thought. Various calculations ran through his mind.
"Very well. But a clever person like you, Lady Asteiril, could change her words and resort to trickery at any moment, so I think it best to make this certain. Don't you agree?"
The elder priestesses forced Asteiril to her knees. Eleusis brought a jar containing kykeon. He ordered the elder priestesses to grip her chin and force her mouth open.
"Do not worry. I have added only a single drop of my blood. It will not drive you mad or cause sudden weakness. Look. Are they not all living quite well?"
Asteiril glanced sideways at the elder priestesses in black robes. She had seen them at the Daphne festival. Perhaps because they were before Eleusis, they looked even more emotionless and withered than before.
"I am not a full Keton, you see. The effects seem somewhat weak. Of course, repeated doses of blood seem to intensify the influence, but I shall not do that to you. I merely wish to exert binding power."
Binding power? Reading the question in her eyes, Eleusis continued his explanation.
"Mainades cannot disobey the commands of the Keton who has given them blood. It is a type of subordination. I merely need that compulsion. Especially for someone like you... you whet my appetite."
As he tilted the open jar, Asteiril thrashed and shrieked.
I cannot allow another's blood into my body—blood that is not his. Blood that is not his into my body...!
She rolled her eyes up to look at the sky. Then, with her chin gripped, she shouted in muffled sounds.
"Hfroouh!"
Wondering what she was doing, Eleusis looked up as well. There was nothing in the air. Only a few scattered clouds drifting aimlessly.
"Hreukpung!"
Her voice, screaming as if in agony, echoed desperately. It reverberated so loudly that even the elder priestesses started in confusion.
Her voice, trained as it was, was such that when she stood at an altar it would sweep across hills and roll over wide plains; perhaps everyone in Delphi had pricked up their ears and turned.
"Nodos!"
She should have called him like this from the start. Asteiril screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Nodooos...!"
At that moment, something skimmed over the top of her head. The feeling of wingbeats like a bee buzzing by, but her vision brightened.
—Are you crazy, Princess? Didn't I tell you not to call my name carelessly?
Ah, as expected. She should have called him like this sooner. Easy to pronounce and effective. He comes flying in a panic. When she was struggling and screaming like she was about to die, he was nowhere to be seen.
—What the... what is going on?
Bukpung circled once above her head in surprise.
"Just who are you calling like that?"
Eleusis asked. Her bizarre behavior made him forget about feeding her the kykeon for a moment.
Asteiril remained silent as if she had nothing to say. Looking at her sudden quiet, Eleusis swallowed a hollow laugh.
"You truly are incomprehensible."
He picked up the jar of kykeon again. The elder priestesses tightened their grip on her chin, tilting her head deeply backward.
Eleusis opened the jar and angled it toward her gaping mouth, preparing to pour in the kykeon.
—Bukpung, tear off the Himeros petal hanging on my neck and put it in my mouth!
—What?
—Hurry, hurry! There's no time! Before he puts that into my mouth! What are you doing? You can do at least that much!
Bukpung flitted about in panic above Asteiril's head, repeating "What do I do? What do I do?" in a frenzy. When Eleusis truly tilted the jar toward her mouth, Bukpung flew at the speed of light and snatched the necklace from her neck.
What do I do, what do I do... If I don't give her this, Despoina will... but if I put this in her mouth, that will also... ah, what do I do...
—Nodos! What are you doing!
I don't know! I don't know, I said I don't know... Lord Callian! Lord Callian, I'm sorry! I'm sorry...
Sobbing, Bukpung dove toward her mouth like a stinging bee.
The crystallized Himeros petal melted like a snowflake the moment it touched her tongue. Asteiril tasted the bitter astringency seeping into her tongue. Her throat moved with a gulp, and Eleusis stopped his action.
He hadn't even poured the kykeon yet?
Asteiril laughed, her body shaking. Veins bulged on her forehead. Her throat bobbed with stifled sounds, veins standing out fiercely.
"What... did you swallow?"
Asteiril coughed and burst into laughter again. Her bloodshot eyes glared at him murderously.
Eleusis raised his hand. The elder priestesses released their strength and freed her arms, and she spat out contemptuously.
"I'd rather die than become a puppet dancing to your tune."
That much her pride would not allow. She was his Anteros. A being bound by the blood of a noble male god, beloved by him. She could not allow another's impure element into the body he had protected. It would be an insult to him and to his love.
"I will become your priestess. But that is all. Do not dare lay a hand on my body. Abandon this absurd plan to bind my mind as well."
A grinding sound came from between Eleusis's teeth. It seemed he could not tolerate those who defied or rose against him.
His fury was palpable, but Asteiril paid it no heed. She had no leisure to care about such things.
Hah, hah. Her blood was burning up.
The melted Himeros petal on her tongue was absorbed into her body in an instant. The power of Erebus contained within spread through her entire body like fierce flames.
"Aaaaack!"
Asteiril let out a shriek as if being torn apart. The elder priestesses stumbled back in shock. Now, veins bulged not only on her face but on her arms, legs, neck, back, and earlobes, spreading across her entire body like a spider's web.
The blood flowing through her swollen veins raged and roared. It felt like a deadly poison spreading. Indescribable pain, as if her skin were being ripped to shreds, struck her repeatedly.
"To you, all things immortal are poison."
Callian's voice, spoken as a warning, flowed into her mind like a wave.
"Aaaack!"
Screaming, Asteiril collapsed to the ground and convulsed. The whites of her eyes rolled back, and foam spilled from her mouth. Bukpung burst into tears, beside himself with anxiety.
—Despoina, Princess of the Southern Kingdom... I was wrong, it was my fault! Don't die, Despoina...
Eleusis also stepped back in apparent surprise, watching her condition.
Whoooosh.
A fierce wind rushed in. A sudden gust descended as if tearing through the sky, whirling and kicking up dirt.
Between the dying gusts, Callian leaped down and ran to her in a single breath. His face turned ashen at the sight of her.
"Lil?"
Panting, her chest heaving, Asteiril threw her head back and bent her body like a bow. Watching her limbs twist grotesquely, Callian stood frozen, then abruptly pulled her into his arms.
"Calm yourself. Calm down! Breathe!"
Callian held Asteiril and grabbed her thrashing limbs.
"Tell me, Bukpung! Now!"
At his roar, Bukpung tore at his head, then started and prostrated himself.
—L-Lord Callian...
“Explain what has happened, now!”
“L-Lady Despoina swallowed it.”
“That?”
“The Himeros petal she wore around her neck. I-I am sorry. I could not stop it. Th-that man tried to force something profane upon Lady Despoina, so she said she would rather swallow my liege’s blood….”
Kallian’s face turned white as a sheet. She swallowed what? She… a Himeros petal?
The blood of a Keton. She had drunk the poison of immortality. His own, no less—his very drop of blood!
Kallian fumbled across Asteril’s cheek and the nape of her neck, caressing her. He was checking for warmth. Her body was frigid. He could feel no breath. As an Anteros, he could not detect even a hint of the comfort, breath, or emotion he should have sensed.
“Lil… rise, my beloved.”
Kallian let out a shallow breath. It felt as if his own breath would stop as well. He laid her on the ground and pressed his ear to her chest.
It was quiet, as if her heart were not there. He pressed his index finger to her lips and philtrum. No breath either.
His mind understood what was happening, yet his reason could not accept it, and he fell into confusion.
“Rise, my beloved.”
Only his voice grew louder. Calling out as if angry did no good.
“I told you to open your eyes and look at me!”
The surrounding trees recoiled in shock, drawing in their branches. Like a sickle slashing through the air, his scattered voice echoed back and gouged his chest.
“Open your eyes, my beloved… Asteril… please.”
Holding her with as much gentleness as he could muster, he embraced her. He pressed firmly on her heart, then breathed into her parted lips, where white foam had gathered.
“Asteril! I said breathe!”
Kallian, who had been shouting, whipped his head around to glare at Eleusis. Eleusis, standing there with a pale face, stumbled back a step.
Eleusis felt his legs trembling and swallowed dryly.
It was him. The dead man from the bottom of the pit.
He stared this way with eyes blazing a deep crimson glow. Eleusis knew what that was. A gaze imbued with all authority. He was a Keton. A very powerful one at that. He had never felt such charisma even from Nyx.
Cold sweat broke out from merely meeting that gaze. Eleusis barely managed to exhale.
Kallian laid Asteril down and lunged toward Eleusis. Then he snatched the jar Eleusis was holding and mercilessly struck his head.
*Thwack!*
Eleusis staggered backward. Kallian did not stop there; he struck Eleusis’s forehead again with the remaining shards still clutched in his hand.
*Crack!*
Groaning, Eleusis clutched his forehead. Bright red blood streamed between his fingers.
His vision spun. His head rang so thunderously it felt as if his brain matter would leak out through his nose. Blood gushed from his nose.
Kallian grabbed him by the collar and dragged him across the ground. Then he threw him down beside Asteril, who lay straight and still.
Eleusis floundered on the ground and then quickly prostrated himself. His parched lips could utter no words, frozen in terror.
“For every ten breaths you draw, I shall sever a part of your body. Pray that even one of those breaths mingles with hers. If you do not wish to die as though buried in frozen earth.”
It was a voice that seemed to have climbed up from underground without drawing a single breath. His low, suppressed voice was saturated with killing intent.
Eleusis touched Asteril’s arm and recoiled in shock. It was already ice. Even were she truly dead, her body could not possibly have grown this cold so quickly.
She looked peaceful to the point of making her earlier convulsions and screams seem meaningless. Though her surface was tranquil, something fierce and burning raged inside her body like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
“She is not dead. She lives. If my guess is correct… she will awaken soon.”
Even at Eleusis’s words, Kallian could not dispel his doubt. One of his hands hung poised in the air, as though ready to summon the wind and throttle Eleusis’s throat at any moment.
“You may believe me. There is no one who knows more about the transformation than I.”
Transformation. A chill ran through his chest.
“I was born and raised in Nisa. I have seen countless Maenads. It is not the usual case, but some undergo such sudden transformations. It is mostly men, though occasionally women as well… A mutation, of sorts.”
Nisa. Mutation.
Shortened breaths glared at him. Eleusis averted his gaze as much as he could. Anger such a being even slightly, and he could die on the spot. That was the kind of race the Ketons were.
“The transformation is swift and intense. Perhaps soon….”
At that moment, her shoulders twitched and straightened. Her jaw moved faintly, her furrowed brow quivering. Her chest swelled as if drawing in breath, then rattled out a shallow breath.
“Are you coming to, my beloved?”
Kallian approached like a gentle breeze and embraced her.
The eyes that had been shifting beneath her eyelids snapped open, gleaming. Asteril awakened, gaping like a person with a strangled throat. She sat up with a start, clutching her own neck in agony, then clawed at her collarbone with her nails.
“C-can’t… breathe….”
Panting, she only stopped her fit when Kallian caught her by the wrist.
“I… I… my body… my body is strange… strange… K-Kallian! Kal….”
“Here. I am by your side.”
A deep baritone voice spoke, as though devouring every fear. Only then did the trembling Asteril become aware of his presence.
“Ah… ugh….”
As she burrowed into him in anguish, Kallian held her tightly. In a cracked, low voice, he whispered like an incantation, “It is alright, my beloved. There is nothing to fear.”
Overcome, she burst into tears.