Meeting with the Gods (1)
"Is Charlotte going to be okay?"
Supporting Yeonseo as she voiced concern for Charlotte in a way so unlike her usual self, I followed her gaze up toward the sky.
There, Charlotte was locked in fierce combat with Gabriel, her wings transparent yet blazing like living flame as she spread them wide.
"She's fine. Didn't you see that confident look on her face? She'll be okay for sure."
"Hmm~ Really? Since when have you been watching Charlotte's expressions so closely?"
Yeonseo teased me in a sly, knowing voice, as if she'd just caught something, and her words left me a little puzzled.
Just as she said—since when had I started watching Charlotte's expressions that carefully? I honestly didn't know.
At first... it had clearly been because she resembled my little sister who was no longer with us, and I'd simply wanted to stay by her side and protect her.
Following Yeonseo's advice, it had only been a few days since I'd begun seeing her not as my sister but as Charlotte—so why was I watching her so intently that I could read her expression even from so far away?
"Well... I don't really know. It just feels like I've been doing it for a while now."
"Is that so? Hmm, is that right? So how do you feel when you look at Charlotte?"
"Huh? Just that she looks happy, or lively...?"
"Haa, not that. You know—that thing. Like when she smiles sometimes, or the way she looked earlier when we were crossing the bridge. What about then?"
I had no idea what Yeonseo was fishing for, but the moment I thought of Charlotte smiling at me, or the way she'd looked on the bridge earlier, heat suddenly rose to my face.
On top of that, my heart began pounding harder than usual.
I was about to describe the sensation, but somehow I felt certain that telling Yeonseo would only lead to merciless teasing, so I averted my gaze and mumbled,
"Just... cute...? I guess..."
"Hahaha! Right, so that's how it is. This is getting interesting."
"Ahem. More importantly, it looks like it's over now."
Fleeing the inexplicable embarrassment and Yeonseo's gaze, I looked back up at the sky where Charlotte had been fighting. Charlotte and Gabriel were slowly descending.
Gabriel's appearance was the complete opposite of when we had fought her—this was probably her true form.
"Good work!"
"Yeah..."
"Charlotte?!"
Charlotte, who had come down toward us, walked straight to me and collapsed into my arms.
I feared she might be badly hurt, but seeing her quietly snoring away in peaceful sleep, my heart—which had dropped with a jolt—began to beat steadily again.
"Phew. Thank goodness."
"The one who told us not to worry is fretting the most, huh~?"
"Ah... no! This is, well..."
Just as I was about to make excuses to Yeonseo, Charlotte—her face buried in my chest—suddenly nuzzled against me and drew in a deep breath. Her body twitched a few times, then settled back into slow, even breathing.
How many times did she repeat that little motion? In the end, Charlotte clung tightly to me and fell into a deep sleep.
I felt something damp on my pants somehow, but she'd been moving so vigorously only moments ago, so it was probably just sweat.
Yeonseo wore an expression as if she'd just witnessed something truly shocking, but what on earth had she seen?
"I shall apologize for my actions until just a moment ago."
In that atmosphere, Gabriel—now pure white, as if every last stain had been scrubbed away—bowed her head toward us and began to apologize.
"It's all right. More importantly, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Since she, the Apostle of the Goddess, liberated me from the evil god's power, I am fine."
"That's a relief. I'm sorry, but could you wait a moment? We don't fully understand the situation ourselves.
We only acted because Charlotte said the Goddess had asked her to save you."
At the word "Goddess," Gabriel's expression turned sorrowful. Then she shook her head, as if casting the feeling aside.
"I see. So the gods still... remember us."
"Sorry to interrupt your reminiscing, but can you tell us what exactly happened?"
Yeonseo, as if she couldn't hold back any longer, began pressing Gabriel about what had befallen the gods and the angels.
"Unfortunately, all I can remember now is... that my mind was filled with the mission to destroy this world that Gaia had been protecting... nothing more."
"Is that so? Hmm, maybe when Charlotte wakes up...?"
Yeonseo stopped mid-sentence and looked at me. Charlotte, still in my arms, slowly began to open her eyes.
"Charlotte...?"
The moment she woke, Charlotte quickly slipped free of my embrace and walked straight toward Gabriel.
Something felt off. The atmosphere surrounding her was no longer the one I had grown used to—there was a heavier, more imposing presence...
"Th-that voice...! Goddess Partruna!"
"No, it hasn't. More importantly... so that child really was your Apostle after all."
Spinning cheerfully in place inside Charlotte's body as if showing herself off, Goddess Partruna suddenly stopped.
"W-wait a second! Punish her?!"
The moment I cried out, Partruna looked at me with a startled expression—then her face softened into a gentle, affectionate smile. Something about that smile felt strangely familiar.
What is this? Why does it feel so joyful... and so painfully nostalgic at the same time?
"Ah—I'm Kang Hyeonseok. And this is Seo Yeonseo."
"Hi."
Yeonseo gave a small nod, then immediately fixed the goddess wearing Charlotte's face with her usual sharp stare.
"That so? Well, whatever. More importantly—why did you ask us to save that one? You owe us an explanation. Otherwise...!"
Gesturing for Yeonseo and me to sit, and drawing Gabriel over to her side as well, Charlotte—no, Goddess Partruna—began to tell us the story of the gods.
Originally, Earth was a place protected by the Mother of the Gods, Gaia.
The other gods had left her embrace and were each guarding the worlds entrusted to them. Then one day, the evil goddess Thanatos appeared and threatened everything.
When she was born, or from where she first existed—we never knew.
Yet before the power of the one who governed Death itself, we were helpless. As the goddess who stood opposite Death, I used my divinity to seal her away.
After Charlotte later broke that seal, and I was finally able to contact the other gods again, I learned that Gaia had already met her death at someone's hands.
Moreover, the Tower—the mechanism that returns a world to its primordial age—had been activated on Earth.
That is why I, together with the other gods, have been working to ensure that the living beings of the Earth Gaia once nurtured are not erased by the Tower.
Each time a Tower is cleared, divinity is gathered. With the divinity we collect, we plan to create a new god who will manage Earth in Gaia's place.
Once that is done, the Tower's function will cease.
However... it seems there is someone who intends to exploit that very plan.
When the story ended, Yeonseo and I were left speechless under the weight of the revelation.
I had assumed the Towers appeared for reasons similar to my own—people who had reincarnated or been transferred from other worlds. Stories like the ones you read in isekai or dimensional novels, where gods or beings under them set events in motion... that much I had imagined.
But after hearing the goddess's account, it was clear the reason the Towers had appeared was a far greater crisis than any of us had ever imagined.
"So you're using Charlotte to clear the Towers while searching for those hidden among us?"
Yeonseo rose from her seat as if something had just clicked, looking at us as she spoke quietly.
"The Obelisk Cult... those bastards exist in other countries too, but they were born here. Their leader is Korean as well."
"Oh, come on—them again? I'm so sick of those guys!"
"Hyeonseok, at this rate we need to get to the Blue House as soon as possible."
"Yeah. Given everything, we should request help right away. But we should stop by Garam first and explain the situation."
"Agreed. Unnie should know about this too."
"Yes. Before that, just a moment."
Gabriel approached us, bowed once more, and held out one of her feathers.
"If you keep this feather with you, your recovery will improve. Ideally I should offer a far greater reward, but given the present circumstances, this is the best I can do."
"Thank you. I'll make sure Charlotte gets it as well."
"Hmph! You don't have to tell me that. Now hurry up and give me back our little foxy!"
"Yeonseo! Ahem... Don't worry. Charlotte is a precious... friend."
The sudden shift in the goddess's demeanor left me a little flustered—but what she did next left me utterly stunned.
Yeonseo had already turned away and didn't see it. Gabriel had vanished a moment earlier. So only I witnessed what she did.
She greeted me with the exact farewell gesture that a certain girl I knew so well—who was no longer with us—had always used when saying goodbye... and then she left Charlotte's body.