Those Who Face the Gods (3)

I looked up at Kyrgios floating in the sky.

…She really is small, huh.

I stared quietly at the strongest returnee of Ways of Survival, whose stature was far smaller than a human’s. When she narrowed her eyes and looked down at me, I carefully set Han Sooyoung and Asuka Ren on the ground, then activated Miniaturization to shrink my own body.

…Something feels off, though.

After reducing my size, I hoisted the unconscious Asuka Ren onto my back, slipped an arm around the swaying Han Sooyoung’s waist to steady her, and took a closer look at Kyrgios.

The line of her jaw seemed strangely rounder than what I’d seen in the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint webtoon. Or had it simply become more realistic now that the webtoon had turned into reality?

"We are people who came from a planet called Earth."

Kyrgios looked back and forth between me and Kim Dokja, then spoke with a glint of interest in her eyes.

She trailed off mid-sentence, her gaze locking onto me as she continued.

"……………."

She had seen through the fact that I was a Constellation with a single glance? She truly possessed an exceptional eye.

Or perhaps, after living through countless ages and witnessing so many Constellations with her own eyes, she had simply recognized what I was.

"Kyrgios. I already know you are spoken of as one of the strongest Transcendents. So you must also know the method by which an Incarnation becomes a Constellation."

Kyrgios looked at me, Kim Dokja, and Han Sooyoung, then turned her gaze to the unconscious Asuka Ren before speaking again.

"We cannot do that."

At my firm refusal, Kyrgios’s eyes twitched as she glared at me. Then the Status of her presence began to slowly reveal itself from her entire body. Han Sooyoung broke out in a cold sweat and clutched my clothes tightly.

As the difference in the Status Kyrgios was weakly releasing made Han Sooyoung bury her face in my clothes in terror, I tightened the arm around her waist, holding her firmly, and looked up at Kyrgios floating in the sky.

"Kyrgios. As you said, we pitied the little people of this place, Peace Land, being slaughtered by us Earthlings, and so all of us transformed into little people to help them. Therefore, if only for the sake of our sacrifice, I ask that you listen to my companion’s words just once."

Kyrgios stared at me with a composed expression, then fell silent for a moment.

After a brief period of thought, she gave a small nod and spoke.

"Dokja."

"Got it."

At Kyrgios’s permission, I looked straight into Kim Dokja’s eyes and nodded. She met my gaze, nodded back with me, then turned to Kyrgios and opened her mouth.

"Kyrgios, this world needs your help."

At Kim Dokja’s words, Kyrgios slightly furrowed her face and replied.

"Yes."

At Kyrgios’s mutter, the “little one” reacted.

At the indirect message from Peace Land’s only Constellation, Kyrgios frowned as if annoyed.

Among the constellations spread across the night sky, the smallest star flickered. After staring at it for a moment, Kyrgios slowly began to speak.

With an expression devoid of any emotion, Kyrgios muttered while gazing far off toward the royal capital Veronica, where the little people of Peace Land had gathered to resist the disaster.

"Then why did you return here? You left Peace Land long ago."

At Kim Dokja’s words, Kyrgios looked at Asuka Ren, who was still unconscious and draped over my back, and answered.

As expected, she reacted to Asuka Ren.

The reason Kyrgios had looked at Asuka Ren was surely because she had responded to one of Asuka Ren’s attributes—the Legendary attribute Creator of Peace Land.

That was why Kim Dokja had brought Asuka Ren along. Only by bringing her would Kyrgios, reacting to Asuka Ren, appear before us.

Hearing Kyrgios’s words, Kim Dokja immediately countered.

"Do not deceive yourself. You returned here to protect your homeland, did you not?"

"The place that made you be born ‘weak,’ is that it?"

For the first time, Kyrgios’s eyes wavered and showed agitation at Kim Dokja’s words.

"Because it is the damned mother planet that gifted you a cursed body?"

Whether she had been scratched by Kim Dokja’s flexible words or not, Kyrgios ground her teeth and offered her final mercy.

But even in the face of that mercy, Kim Dokja put on a provocative expression and opened her mouth again.

"Are you scared?"

Kim Dokja had just hit Kyrgios with a full-on “you chicken?” Kyrgios’s expression hardened as she quietly looked down at her.

Watching from the side, Han Sooyoung—still trembling—turned to me and asked.

"Hey, Park Jinwoo. That bitch has lost her mind. Your girlfriend’s lost it! Why the hell aren’t you stopping her right now…!"

"…Just watch a little longer, Sooyoung."

"…Watch what? If you don’t stop Kim Dokja right now, we’re all gonna get sliced up by her here!"

"I’ll take responsibility and keep us alive. Just watch a bit more."

I deliberately put on a face full of confidence so Han Sooyoung would feel even a little less afraid.

At that, Han Sooyoung looked at me with an incredulous expression and muttered.

"…Are you hitting on me right now? You’re planting that kind of flag at a time like this?"

"What if I am?"

"Obviously I’m telling your girlfriend, you playboy bastard."

"…I was just joking because you looked as scared as a kitten and I wanted to loosen you up a bit."

"…I’ve never been scared, okay?"

At her stubborn insistence, I looked down at her nestled in my arms with a dumbfounded expression.

"Then what’s with grabbing my clothes and burying your face in my chest?"

"…I was just checking if your clothes smelled."

"Come to think of it, this is the Middle Ages, so there’s no laundry detergent, huh? I’ll do some laundry inside My Room later."

"…Fine."

If I kept picking at her prideful words, the conversation would never end, so I deliberately changed the subject. Han Sooyoung buried her face in my chest again and quietly muttered “thanks.”

Sometimes she showed a cool-girl side, and other times plenty of tsundere moments. I chuckled and stroked her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hair.

Then I turned my gaze back to Kim Dokja and Kyrgios.

Even to me, her boyfriend, Kim Dokja’s face as she provoked her looked extremely arrogant. The Status pouring from Kyrgios’s entire body grew even stronger.

Because of the Status flowing from Kyrgios, Kim Dokja broke out in a cold sweat and, with a tense expression, opened her mouth again.

"I asked if you were scared. Scared of those Constellations trampling your world, of that wicked ‘Snake’…"

Rumble rumble rumble!

"Guh…!"

"Kk…!"

Whether her patience had reached its limit or not, the Status erupting from Kyrgios’s entire body swept over me, Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, and Asuka Ren.

When blood sprayed from the mouths of Kim Dokja—who was not yet a Constellation—and Han Sooyoung—whose Status was still far lacking—I also released my Status to protect them.

Rumble rumble rumble!

As I carefully released my Status as a Constellation so that Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung, and Asuka Ren would not be swept away, Kyrgios narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

"……I don’t particularly want to do this either. But the person speaking to you right now is my girlfriend. And the women by my side are my precious companions."

"Of course. They’re all beauties who can hold their own, so they’re even more worth staking a life for."

For a while, Kyrgios and I glared at each other, releasing our Status and gauging one another. And inwardly, I sighed.

…Fuck. Kyrgios really is insanely strong.

Even though I was a Fable-grade Constellation myself. I was just a neighborhood punching bag.

I was releasing my Status to protect the party from Kyrgios’s, but little by little my Status was being devoured by hers.

In truth, it was inevitable that I would lose to her. This place, Peace Land, was the mother planet where Kyrgios had been born and raised, so the Transcendent Status and Fable she released inevitably felt even stronger.

And she was the strongest returnee, spoken of as one of the strongest Transcendents. A newborn Constellation who had only just obtained a modifier was clearly no match for such a being.

But fortunately, my efforts bore fruit.

Kim Dokja, who had been exposed to Kyrgios’s Status, managed to catch her breath a little more easily and spoke to her.

"Do not deceive yourself about why you came here. You came to witness the end of this planet, did you not? I know you cannot use your power because of the constraints of Probability."

At Kim Dokja’s words, Kyrgios stopped releasing her Status and stared fixedly at her once more.

"Guh…! Holy shit! I’m gonna die…."

"…You said you’d take responsibility and keep us alive, you bastard."

The moment Kyrgios stopped releasing her Status, I almost simultaneously stopped releasing mine. Having pushed my Status ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the limit, I exhaled the breath I’d been holding with an exhausted expression. Han Sooyoung, still in my arms, wiped the blood that had flowed from her mouth with her sleeve and muttered a quiet curse.

"…That’s why I staked my life and kept you alive."

"Haa…. Next time just grab us and run. Got it?"

Han Sooyoung stared at my face for a moment, then let out a small sigh and wiped the corner of my mouth with her sleeve. Only then did I realize blood had been flowing from my own mouth just now.

"What? Are you worrying about me right now?"

"What if I am? I’m a bad person, but I’m not enough of a piece of trash to not worry about someone who got hurt staking their life to help."

After finishing our words, we looked at each other for a moment, then both let out hollow laughs. Then we turned our heads at the same time and looked back at Kim Dokja and Kyrgios, pricking up our ears to their conversation.

Ptoo!

"You do not need to act with your own hands. We will defeat the disaster of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Peace Land."

Kim Dokja spat the blood pooled in her mouth onto the ground and spoke.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Why is Asmodeus suddenly looking at me and laughing?

As Kyrgios flinched at the indirect messages from Constellations of a completely different Status from mine and looked at them—

Kim Dokja quickly began to state her true purpose to Kyrgios.

"Take me and Park Jinwoo behind me as your disciples."

Hearing Kim Dokja’s words, Kyrgios furrowed one eye as if incredulous and looked down at her in silence for a moment.

Afraid that Kyrgios would reject her proposal outright, Kim Dokja hurriedly continued.

"Heavenly secrets should be demanding a disciple Fable from you soon, should they not?"

That composed expression of Kyrgios’s was dyed with fluster. The Transcendent was slowly being played by Kim Dokja’s words, who knew all of her circumstances.

"Take me and Park Jinwoo as your disciples. We will become your agents and defeat the disaster of Peace Land."

Kyrgios looked back and forth between Kim Dokja and me once, then glanced at the Constellations’ indirect messages before speaking.

Kyrgios composed her agitated expression and continued with a calm face.

White Pure of Paradox, Kyrgios Rodgraim.

She who had left her homeland, overcome countless trials, and returned, only to become unable to save her homeland as the price of growing too strong.

Kyrgios had known. That if she moved, the Constellations in the sky above would also gain the Probability to move, and that it would accelerate the ruin of Peace Land.

Kyrgios looked down at Kim Dokja and me with a cold gaze and spoke.

I smiled faintly at Kyrgios’s words. Kim Dokja, on the other hand, slightly crumpled her face at the words, looking as if her pride had been wounded, and picked up a nearby tree branch.

"Jinwoo. Get ready."

"Okay."

At Kim Dokja’s signal, I drew the Ice Heaven Demon Dragon Sword that had been stored in My Room.

"Kyrgios. Will this not suffice for that qualification?"

Hummm.

Seeing Kim Dokja channel White Pure Demonic Energy into the tree branch, I followed suit and activated White Pure Demonic Energy.

Hummm.

As I activated White Pure Demonic Energy, my magic power was sucked entirely into the Ice Heaven Demon Dragon Sword I held. Then a surging blue wave of magic power began to ripple across the blade of the Ice Heaven Demon Dragon Sword.

Because my level of White Pure Demonic Energy was higher than Kim Dokja’s, the denser white-pure color of the energy made Kyrgios’s eyes gradually fill with shock.

Kim Dokja politely dropped to one knee before Kyrgios, who was staring at us with a look of astonishment, and held the tree branch with both hands in greeting.

"Allow me to greet you again. Outer Disciple of the White Pure Gate, Kim Dokja, pays respects to the elder of the sect."

"And the second Outer Disciple of the White Pure Gate, Park Jinwoo, pays respects to the elder of the sect."

Because I had Asuka Ren on my back and was holding Han Sooyoung, I could not greet her as politely as Kim Dokja, so I bent my knees as much as possible and bowed my waist toward Kyrgios.

When Kim Dokja and I used White Pure Demonic Energy, Kyrgios put on a deeply contemplative expression, then sat astride a nearby rocky mountain and began to ponder.

If it went according to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint webtoon, she would probably stay in that posture pondering and make her decision after two hours.

Suddenly I’ve got two whole hours free.

I let go of Han Sooyoung, who had recovered enough to stand on her own, and laid the still-unconscious Asuka Ren across my lap.

At that, Han Sooyoung, who had been watching with a displeased face, spoke to me.

"Oh my? Now you’re even giving her a lap pillow?"

"Thanks to her we met Master Kyrgios. I should at least do this much."

"She hasn’t even accepted us yet and you’re already calling her Master?"

"If she says she won’t accept us, then I’ll just keep begging until she does."

If she truly refused, I would grab her legs or cling to her waist and never leave her side until she said she would take us as disciples.

I answered Han Sooyoung that way, but when she kept staring fixedly at my face, I spoke to her.

"Why are you staring at a person’s face so hard? It’s awkward…."

"I was wondering if you’re really giving her a lap pillow with no ulterior motives."

"Huh…?"

At Han Sooyoung’s sudden words, I looked at her with a flustered expression.

"No, what’s the intent behind that question?"

"You really don’t know why I’m asking?"

"…Even I don’t hit on every woman every single time, you know?"

"You hit on me earlier, though?"

"……When you put it that way, I’ve got nothing to say."

My mouth really had been too free. I had only said it as a joke because Han Sooyoung seemed so tense and scared. I never thought she would hold it against me now….

I let out a small sigh at Han Sooyoung’s attitude of still staring at me and quietly pressuring me, then opened my mouth.

"Fine, just take it as me hitting on her."

"Hey, Kim Dokja! Your boyfriend is hitting on this Japanese woman!"

"What…?"

At Han Sooyoung’s snitching, Kim Dokja, who had been quietly looking at her smartphone, raised her head and glared at me. I broke out in a cold sweat and yelled at Han Sooyoung.

"Hey! Can’t you take a joke?! Why are you telling on me!"

"You tease me all the time too. This is revenge for that."

"Y-you crazy…! How is that the same as this?!"

As Kim Dokja glared at me with murderous eyes and slowly approached, I pulled out spare pillows and a blanket from My Room, gently lifted Asuka Ren’s head to lay it on a pillow, covered her body with the blanket, then shot to my feet.

"Dokja! Stop! Stop right there!"

"You’re dead…."

Even at my “stop,” Kim Dokja approached with a fierce momentum. I put on a panicked expression and screamed.

"W-why isn’t she stopping?! In the commercials they stop!"

"Are you talking about those school-violence commercials? How is that the same as this?"

When Han Sooyoung looked at me pitifully, I ground my teeth and glared at her.

"Han Sooyoung! I will definitely return! And I will definitely take revenge!"

"Do whatever you want. If you can make it back alive, that is."

Han Sooyoung cackled at my words and pointed a thumb at Kim Dokja, who was now quite close to me, mocking me.

"H-Han Sooyoung…!! How could you do this to me…!"

"Get over here!!"

"D-Dokja! This is all a misunderstanding! A real misunderstanding!"

I pulled the Unbreakable Faith from my subspace coat, and at the sight of Kim Dokja charging at me, I panicked, spun around, and fled.

"Heh heh. Serves you right."

Han Sooyoung cackled and watched me run away from the Kim Dokja whose eyes had rolled back.

And then.

"Shut up! All of you shut up! You bastards! Don’t curse me!!"

"Park Jinwoo―!! Aren’t you coming over here?!"

"Dokja! Just put that sword away, okay?! Then I’ll come!"

"Shut up! You’re dead today!!"

Eventually, Kyrgios, who had reacted to our actions and affectionate conversation (?), shot to her feet with an angry expression and shouted.

"Everyone be quiet! Do not disturb my contemplation!!"