Let's Go Back
Life surged like a tide, too vast to believe it had come from a stone so small, and dyed everything around it until the place was its own.
"Ngh!"
Pele flinched, a shiver running through her. Divine flame roared up, and within the light of Life a crimson glow surfaced.
"My power's coming back?"
She looked herself over, dumbfounded. The strength she had lost to the seal and the Eclipse God's schemes was rushing back at a tremendous pace, and she could not control the recoil; power spilled from her in streaming threads. Pele closed her eyes and turned her focus inward. If she failed to gather it here, every volcano in Hawaii might erupt.
"......Astonishing."
Hong Yumin let the word out low. For an instant her eyes went hazy, as if some enlightenment had found her inside the tide of Life.
"Prrrrrr."
San-gun settled into a loaf and began to purr. His tail stood bolt upright and would not come down. He was, quite plainly, in excellent spirits.
"......"
Sipsado laid a hand over her heart and sank into thought. Even so, the melancholy that had always hung about her seemed to have lifted a great deal.
"Huh? What have I been doing this whole time?"
Kana's wits, which had gone flying, seemed to be settling back into place bit by bit. She scratched her head with a blank, foolish look.
Sword's wounds had closed completely, and the aftereffects of drawing on demonic power had vanished as well. The faces of the unconscious Mi Soryeong and Na Wangrang had grown peaceful.
Dan Miryong, on the other hand...
"Hm."
I was at a loss.
"How very subtle."
"Subtle indeed."
I chimed in after Another One.
"Has there ever been a case like this?"
"Never. Life is impartial. Within it there is no notion of good or evil. Even if it cannot move according to its master's will, in a situation such as this Life is endlessly merciful."
"Then why is it doing this?"
The area had become a sea of Life, deep enough to turn the inanimate into the living. Power so immense was pouring down that even buildings cracked and collapsed were restoring themselves on their own. Only the space around Dan Miryong remained untouched, as if Life disliked him.
"If we are to frame a hypothesis: first, it is because of me. Second, Life dislikes Dan Miryong for killing Dan Miryu. Third, it is a trick of fate."
"Somehow it feels like all three."
"I feel the same."
Another One shrugged.
"Well. What becomes of Dan Miryong is for the Dan clan to decide. He is alive, at least. It will work itself out somehow, will it not?"
Shamelessly irresponsible. He was the one who had driven things this far.
"That aside, shall we begin settling the account?"
Another One's eyes glinted.
"They haven't even been brought back yet, and you already want to settle up? Have you no professional ethics at all?"
"You were the one who brought up the Origin. That was your mistake. I will state it as fact: in all the universe, not one being who knows the Origin could hear of it and sit still."
"It's nothing special..."
The Origin. My home. The place where I was born and raised, and the place where the comic Forever had been serialized.
"There are ears listening, so let's talk later, just the two of us. For now, focus on saving lives."
"......Hmph."
Another One looked displeased, but what was he going to do? A thirsty man has to dig the well. I was anxious to save the father and son myself, though my haste could not run as deep as the restlessness he felt.
That was the Origin for you.
If the universe had a place where reason failed, it was there. I would have sworn that was also why Another One could not threaten me. The Origin was simply too vast a thing to hold over anyone's head.
"I'll pay you properly, so bear with it a little. You've lived through hundreds of millions of years. You can't endure even this?"
"I have grown used to Earth time, so I am impatient myself... but if the client insists, there is nothing to be done."
As if determined to be finished with this moment, Another One hurried Resurrection into manifesting.
At the far end of Life, Resurrection drew near. It was one of the fragments fallen from Forever—the Stone of Resurrection. Its effect was resurrection. There was nothing else. There was only resurrection.
Recovery? Healing? A body strengthened? A barrier raised? Laughable. None of that was the power of the Stone of Resurrection. Those were dregs spilled off of resurrection itself, the tip of an iceberg mistaken for the whole. Even so, that mere tip had been more than enough to deserve the name of infinite life.
Life split open, and from within it Resurrection walked forth.
Formless, it glanced at Another One, then turned its gaze upon the father and son. Another One took Resurrection in hand, and Resurrection reached toward them.
Shaaaaaaa...
If light were ever to fall from the heavens, would it look like this? White upon white, the radiance wrapped the father and son. Dan Miryu's body, gone cold, began to breathe, and Dan Chuyeon, who had been fading out of existence, returned to what he had been.
When the light vanished, Resurrection rose. I had expected something far more tremendous, but it ended with surprising speed and simplicity. That alone was enough. Coming back from death was tremendous in itself.
Its calling fulfilled, Another One tossed the Stone of Resurrection to me.
"Do not forget our promise."
"Yeah, yeah."
Life withdrew into the Stone of Resurrection. A world that had been nothing but green was filling back in with all its colors.
Resurrection did not withdraw. It remained quietly beside the father and son.
"Hm?"
Something stared openly at Resurrection, puzzlement written across it as if on purpose, and I felt a presence coiled there.
"......An unwelcome guest has come."
Another One's face went hard. He, the absolute strongest of all, had grown tense.
Death.
Before Resurrection, there stood Death.
Death, in the faint shape of a book, looked straight at us. My body shook before I could think. Terror came over me by instinct, the terror of a living thing. Every breath felt as though it were crushing my lungs. My muscles slowed their work, and my blood ran cold. Death occurred simply because Death was there. Had Resurrection not been present, this whole place would have been turned to nothing.
Even if one did not fear dying, life could not resist once Death, real and present, sat in judgment upon it. This was what came of surpassing law and surpassing nature. So long as the universe existed, it would never vanish, and even if it vanished, it would still exist. Such was Death.
That was why Another One had tensed. However strong he might be, strength had never meant he could not die.
"......Why is Death here?"
"......I would like to answer, but I am frightened enough that I may die, so that would be difficult."
Another One edged back several steps.
Death fixed on him. That alone stopped him where he stood.
Flip. A page turned.
"Tch."
A centipede tore out through the flesh of Another One's neck. Its body was made of death, and it turned its fangs on him.
"I was too hasty in handing over the Stone of Resurrection."
Face twisted with pain, Another One shoved the centipede back down his throat. He pressed hard around his neck, the way one presses a wound to stop the bleeding, and then he let go. The centipede was gone, annihilated without a trace.
Flip. The page turned again.
A hundred deaths bore down on Another One. Resurrection blocked every one of them. The page that had turned was flipped back the other way, and Death shivered, a fine tremor running through it.
"That took ten years off my life."
Another One drew a hand down his chest.
Death gazed quietly at the Resurrection that had barred its way. Resurrection shook its head, as if to say this was far enough. Death's eyes flicked to the father and son beneath it.
The book opened. Spread wide enough for even us to see, its pages were packed edge to edge with every kind of writing. In that flood of letters, I found names I knew.
Dan Miryu — Death by Loss of Blood
Dan Chuyeon — Annihilation of Existence
Cause of death, and the reason for it—both had been written for the two of them. And those two names were slowly being erased.
With a thud, Death shut the book, its work apparently done. It glared at Another One one last time, and then it was gone without a trace.
"Your karma runs deep."
"......Why did I ever make that thing, back then."
"You want to die?"
I could let a great many things pass, but he did not get to say that. He had done it with his eyes open, knowing the cost, and now he wanted to whimper...
"I have no wish to remain here. I will come find you later."
I blinked once, and Another One was gone. When he vanished, Resurrection vanished as well.
"Ugh, I'm dying..."
Pele let out a groan, as if she had finished stabilizing her power.
"I thought you'd be the last to wake, and you're the first?"
"It came back so fast it startled me. That power was mine to begin with."
Pele showed the composure of a goddess. Starting with her, the others came to their senses one after another.
And at the very end of that—
"Aigoo, my head."
"Nnngh."
The two who had suffered so much were awake at last.
"So. How was it, that moment you spent dead?"
"Ah..."
Dan Miryu let out an empty laugh, as if none of it felt real.
"I met someone I was glad to see, so it's left me a little bitter."
"Then would you like to go through it again?"
"Don't joke. I never want to experience that again."
"Dad!"
Dan Chuyeon threw himself into Dan Miryu's arms.
"My boy. You went through so much. Dad's sorry."
"Never again. Don't ever do that again..."
"I know. Don't cry. That's enough."
It was a dramatic reunion of father and son. Even as he soothed Dan Chuyeon, Dan Miryu turned a heavy, complicated gaze on Dan Miryong.
"What are you going to do about him?"
"......Is he still alive?"
"Yes."
"......I'll take him with me."
"......Dad?!"
Dan Chuyeon was aghast.
"It's all right. Dad has a plan."
"......Do something that reckless again, and next time you die by my hand."
"Your mother will kill me long before that."
Dan Miryu got to his feet, working a hand against the small of his back.
"Let's go back."
The sky was staining red.
As for today's family squabble—
it had ended, fortunately, with not a single person hurt.