Myth
Myth
It wasn't difficult to recognize that the woman outside the front door belonged to Truth's Eye.
That was because the man who had visited last time, Seon Hye-seong, was standing behind her.
He bowed politely to express his apologies and introduced the woman beside him.
"I apologize for visiting without notice. This person insisted on meeting you no matter what..."
"Uh, so..."
"I am Seon Hye-seong. And this is Yoo Da-eun-nim, whom I serve."
"Aha. Well, would you like to come in first? Let's talk inside."
"Thank you~"
Shin Sua, not wanting to leave them at the entrance, tried to bring them inside.
However, while the woman named Yoo Da-eun entered as soon as permission was given, Seon Hye-seong shook his head and declined the offer.
"I will wait here."
"It's okay to come in, though."
"It is truly fine. Yoo Da-eun-nim, please call for me when the conversation is over."
Kung.
Yoo Da-eun entered the house, and the front door closed.
As if she were someone well-acquainted with the interior of the house, she walked straight to where I was and sat on the sofa across from me.
"Waa, Nidhogg-nim. It's my first time seeing you in person."
Yoo Da-eun spoke familiarly, as if she were already used to this.
Judging by Seon Hye-seong's words and her attitude, I assumed she was the one who could see destiny.
"Are you the one who sees destiny?"
"Yes, please feel free to call me Da-eun."
"I'll think about that once we get a bit closer."
"Eii."
Although a proper conversation hadn't even begun yet, I could tell from that brief exchange that she had a 'my-pace' personality.
In the meantime, Shin Sua came out of the kitchen with a glass of juice, placed it in front of her, and sat down next to me.
Now we were finally ready to talk properly.
"So. What brings you all the way here? I recall clearly declining the invitation."
"Yes, you did. You declined despite my best efforts to invite you, so I came to find you myself. And as for why I came... before that, how much do you know about Truth's Eye?"
"An organization of humans who see destiny. I don't know anything beyond that."
At my answer, a flash of disappointment crossed Yoo Da-eun's face.
"I thought you might have looked us up since I sent someone to invite you, but I guess it was a groundless hope."
"Don't you know that even though you see destiny?"
"That's because I can't see the destiny regarding Nidhogg-nim."
Yoo Da-eun was saying something similar to the Norns.
Since even the gods of destiny couldn't see my fate, perhaps it was only natural.
"Then why did you come all the way here? If you're here to tell me that everyone's destiny is a mess because of me, then go back."
"No. I didn't come to tell you that."
"Then what is it?"
"Please don't rush me. I was just about to tell you. Truth's Eye is an organization that has existed since ancient times. Its origins are so far in the past that they aren't exact, but it's an organization so old it wouldn't be strange to say it has existed alongside human history. Sometimes by the side of great kings, sometimes wandering the world, an organization that protected humanity from behind rather than standing in front of it. That is Truth's Eye."
"Heum."
I glanced at Shin Sua while listening to Yoo Da-eun, but she also seemed to be hearing this for the first time, focused on the story with fascination.
"But despite all these efforts, an event occurred where humanity almost went extinct. Do you know what that was?"
"...The appearance of the Gates?"
"Yes. Just as Sua-yang said, the Gates appeared. The appearance of the Gates was a situation that no one in the organization had predicted, and because of that, countless people died."
Yoo Da-eun's face became noticeably gloomy.
As if failing to notice the appearance of the Gates was their own sin.
"D-don't blame yourself. Who could have known the Gates would appear?"
"No. At that time, Truth's Eye was so focused on 'what is visible' that they didn't try to see what destiny was hiding. That's because they thought it was a 'sin' to defy destiny and shake the heavenly secrets. If even one person had pulled back the veil hidden by destiny and known about the appearance of the Gates in advance, countless lives could have been saved."
"Ah."
"After the Gates appeared, Truth's Eye stepped more to the forefront, cooperating with governments and associations worldwide to detect the appearance of Gates in advance, or to foresee unusual situations or accidents that could threaten humanity, striving to calm the situation."
She spoke as if reminiscing about a distant past.
Wait, she looks to be in her early 20s at most, so how old is she exactly?
"A-aa! Of course, not me, but the people who were active in the organization before me. Got it? I'm a 23-year-old with a bright future ahead of me."
Hmm... suspicious.
Judging only by her tone when reminiscing about the past, it wouldn't be strange if she were 50 rather than in her 20s, but since it wasn't important right now, I decided to let it slide.
"Ethem. Heum-heum! Now, from here on, it's a very important story. Do you happen to know about 'Mythology'?"
"Mythology? What's that?"
"Mythology is the stories of gods said to have existed in the distant past, or the records and drawings of their achievements, lives, and deaths."
"Is there such a thing?"
"To be precise, there was. However, as soon as the Gates appeared, they vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed from the beginning. And in that mythology, Nidhogg-nim also appeared."
'I appeared?'
"Tell me more."
If such a record really exists, I'm curious about how I'm recorded.
I focused on her mouth as it slowly opened.
"According to mythology..."
An evil dragon that lives near Hvergelmir in Niflheim, ceaselessly gnawing at the roots of Yggdrasil to scatter strife and discord throughout the world, devouring everything around it, and flying through the world leading the dead during Ragnarok.
That is supposedly me.
"It's a bit strange, isn't it?"
Nod.
I silently agreed with her words.
It's true that I lived next to the spring in Niflheim and gnawed at the roots of Yggdrasil, but I didn't gnaw them ceaselessly, nor did I scatter things like discord in the world.
Her story is far too exaggerated.
"Perhaps the story was exaggerated as it was passed down, or perhaps only Nidhogg-nim is unique."
"What do you think?"
"I think it's the latter. All the other gods confirmed so far have acted exactly like the vanished mythologies."
"Then why am I the only one who's different? Do you have any ideas?"
"No. We also have no idea why only Nidhogg-nim is different from mythology, or why your destiny is so entangled that it can't be seen properly. We only guessed that Nidhogg-nim is different from mythology because you act completely differently from the personality described in the myths."
Mmm... could it be?
I haven't told anyone else, but strictly speaking, I am a reincarnator.
It's just that I was reincarnated as a dragon instead of a human.
So, what if the Nidhogg they know is the Nidhogg in the case where I hadn't reincarnated?
If that's the case, then their words make sense.
"You have an idea, don't you?"
"Yeah. Not that I plan on telling you."
"Yes. You don't particularly have to tell me."
"Now that I've heard the explanation... shall we hear the real reason why you came?"
"I'll tell you that after you see this one last thing."
She removed the white cloth that had been covering her eyes until now.
And when she opened her closed eyes, vivid golden eyes were revealed.
A peculiar magic power flowing from those eyes, which felt like they could suck me in, headed toward me.
The moment that power touched me.
Ting!
It was bounced away far too helplessly.
"Ah!"
"What were you trying to do?"
If nothing else, I knew she was trying to do something to me.
When I asked in a low, threatening voice, she became flustered.
"A-aa, that is, I thought it would be better to show you directly rather than explaining with words... could you perhaps withdraw the power you've wrapped around yourself?"
"...If you do anything stupid, I'll bite you in one mouthful."
Since she had said all that, I withdrew the power wrapped around my body and became defenseless, and only then did the peculiar magic power from her eyes reach me.
Immediately after, my consciousness moved as if being sucked in somewhere, and the next moment, the place where I stood was not on the sofa in the living room, but in the middle of a vast universe.
"This is the place I invited you to because I wanted to show Nidhogg-nim the destiny that I see."
"Showing destiny?"
"Yes, the destiny I see—specifically, I wanted to show you the destiny of destruction."
As she reached out her hand to the side, things like flowing golden sand floated and scattered through the universe.
Those scattered grains soon created new scenes within the universe.
A scene where a giant monster with a human torso and a snake's lower body dyed the world in war.
A scene where a monster with three heads and three pairs of arms destroyed the world.
A scene where four horsemen riding different colored horses led the end in their own ways.
And so on.
The destruction of Earth was shown in countless ways, and among them, I also saw the familiar fireball, 'Surtr'.
"How is it?"
"Is this the end that you saw?"
"Yes, in the destiny we saw, Earth always met its end in various ways. But even that is now a thing of the past. Now, even the prophets belonging to Truth's Eye cannot see the future properly."
"Why?"
"We don't know the exact reason either... but starting from last year, the destiny regarding the future has become so tangled that it cannot be seen, or even if it can, it has changed so that only very fragmentary information can be seen."
"Last year?"
Last year was the year Shin Sua returned through regression.
Perhaps the reason they couldn't see the future properly was because of Shin Sua.
"Thanks to that, the prophets of the organization have become blind men with their eyes open and are very anxious."
"Isn't that the same for you?"
"That's why I came all the way here, isn't it?"
That's true.
"Then the favor you want to ask of me is obvious. Are you telling me to save the world?"
"That's right. Only you, a being free from the world's destiny, can save this world. We know we're being shameless. No matter how strong Nidhogg-nim is, it's not easy to stop destruction alone. But if you could just make it so that a little bit, just a territory about the size of Korea, can avoid destruction, we will do everything in our power for you."
"Aa, yeah. I understand the proposal well. But..."
I've already made a contract with Shin Sua, so you didn't even need to ask?
"Pardon?"
This was a wasted effort.
At the same time, inside the palace of the 2nd Asgard.
A human is kneeling in a very polite posture before Odin, the ruler and Main God of Asgard.
He is Bjorn, a member of Truth's Eye and one of the few prophets with the same rank as Yoo Da-eun.
"So. You have a favor to ask of me?"
"Yes, Goddess of War and Madness. And Odin-isiyeo, King of Gods. Please save us humans-hasoseo. If you do, we shall also serve Odin-nim."
Odin, who needed new subjects to fit the new world, found his proposal interesting. She sat crookedly on her throne, resting her chin on her hand as she asked.
"Heung... tell me more about that in detail."