The Forge's Flame (2)

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠real fire, I had been told, would lie without exception.

I focused my mind as hard as I could and replayed the embers' words in my head.

'The red ember does not have the fire.'

'I do not have the fire.'

'The yellow ember is lying.'

If the yellow ember had the fire, then the statement "the red ember does not have the fire" would have to be false.

That would force the red ember to hold the fire — a contradiction.

'Which means the yellow ember is not the true fire.'

The first ember to speak, the yellow one, was out.

And when I assumed the red ember was the true fire and worked through the logic, the yellow ember's words stopped making sense entirely.

So the red ember wasn't the true fire either.

"Twenty seconds."

'Finally — if the blue ember is defined as the true fire, every word he spoke holds true.'

I pointed my finger at the blue flame blazing between the other embers.

"Blue! It's the blue ember!!"

Yang Myeonghyun nodded and started rifling through the weapons scattered around us. Even without hearing my reasoning, he trusted my call and moved. But there wasn't a single tool in sight that could carry a flame.

'Did they deliberately leave out a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠torch?!'

It didn't have to be one of the sacred torches we'd seen on the 11th floor. Even a scrap of wood would have done — we could have lit it and carried the fire out. But it was as if the forge had been stripped of anything we might use; nothing lay around but weapons — swords, shields, blades of every kind.

"Pick up the true fire with your bare hand, mortal."

"?!"

Just then, Hephaestus's voice wormed its way into my ear.

'Pick it up with my hand? That's insane. Even with Hermes's medicine coating my body, it's impossible.'

This was no ordinary fire — it was the true flame of Hephaestus's forge. Grab it barehanded, and we might be burned far worse than Yang Myeonghyun already was.

"If your answer is wrong, your body becomes fire. If your answer is right, the fire becomes your body."

What the hell is that supposed to mean?!

"Ten seconds."

"Ugh!!"

This time a sword of living flame came flying at Yang Myeonghyun's throat. Thankfully, the scarlet blade only grazed past his neck by the narrowest of margins.

Watching him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clutch his throat and collapse to his knees, I tore at my hair.

'At this rate he can't have more than two blocks of stamina left.'

My own ink, my stamina, was still full.

Which meant —

"Ah, damn it all!"

Yes. Rather than go mad watching someone else burn, I'd sooner burn my own hand.

'You lunatic.'

I hurled a self-mocking curse at myself and stretched my hand toward the blue ember. The searing heat of the boiling flame slapped itself against my palm.

My sleeve caught ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fire. My fingers ignited.

"AAAGH!!"

It hurt like hell. Even so, I forced myself to hold on and seized the blue ember, gripping it as tightly as I could so the pain wouldn't make me fling it away on reflex. I clenched my teeth against the agony until my molars went numb.

Sure enough, the leaflet floated up, announcing that my stamina was draining away.

"AAAGH!!"

"J-Jisan-hyung…!"

'The flames — they've latched onto my body. So this is what it feels like.'

It wasn't the same color as the fire that had swallowed our house, but the pain was every bit as vivid as real fire. I was burning — old and helpless, just like our home. The thought that my parents must have felt this exact agony tore through my chest, shredding it to ribbons.

Sssssk—

Sssssk—

'You don't have to keep telling me. I know.'

Sssssk—!

Sssssk—!

Sssssk—!

The ink was fading fast. Two blocks left. My stamina was hemorrhaging away, and soon there would be none of it at all.

'Damn it, this hurts like hell.'

Sssssk—!

Sssssk—!

Sssssk—!

Told to pick it up barehanded — had Hephaestus landed one final lie on us?

The ominous hiss of tearing paper was drifting farther from my ears, fading.

And then —

"…?"

Strangely enough, the pain began to die down. Very, very slowly. The flames hadn't gone out, yet inexplicably, only the killing agony vanished.

I squeezed the squishy ball of fire in my hand, as soft as if I were holding a slime. The blue ember and my body had fused together naturally, as if this fire had always been part of me — like muscle, like bone, like blood.

'The volcano is wailing. The bones of the earth are splitting, and the lava surges up like blood.'

"Become my blood…."

Hephaestus's monologue surfaced in my memory again. The erupting lava ran along my veins, pumping through my heart. My fingers, once blistered and shredded by burns, had somehow returned to their original state.

Shhwaaap—

'I got the fire!!'

My heart pounded fiercely the moment I saw the leaflet's words: Material Acquired. As the leaflet rolled itself up and vanished, the violent trembling of the volcano ceased.

"Jisan-hyung…. Are you all right?"

Yang Myeonghyun dragged himself to his feet and limped over to me. He was a wreck himself, and still he worried about me.

'Well, I did just grab fire with my bare hand.'

Hephaestus had ordered it, granted, but I'd acted rashly — impulsively to an absurd degree. 'Then again, in a heartless mission with a sixty-second time limit, a little recklessness is probably a necessity.'

"You have not stolen the fire. The fire has chosen you."

"Hephaestus…."

His voice was as heavy and rough as the iron he hammered.

Thoom— Thoom— Thoom—

Hephaestus, who had been watching our struggle from afar, began walking toward us.

'Just like the descriptions in the books.'

The grim-faced, lame god of fire — Hephaestus. I was overwhelmed by his eyes, which churned and boiled like molten lava. Yet a smile full of menace crossed his face as he tossed out a surprisingly benevolent line. His features were terrifying, certainly, but there was no longer any need to be afraid of him.

"As master of this forge, I honor the fire's choice."

Hephaestus nodded as he gazed at the blue ember cupped in my hand. The flame clung snugly to my palm, nuzzling against it like a pet.

"However. I cannot simply let you go."

"…?!"

"So speaks Lord Zeus."

Wasn't this quest already cleared? Hephaestus's facial muscles twitched, and his expression darkened in a heartbeat. This time I was certain. It wasn't a misreading — it was genuine killing intent.

'If only we hadn't taken the fire, they'd have overlooked our trespass. If only we hadn't taken the fire.'

We'd escaped Zeus's lightning on the strength of the Oath of the Styx — but now….

"GWAAAAAH—!!"

A voice like rolling thunder drove itself into my ears hard enough to burst my eardrums. Zeus's roar and Hephaestus's bellow tangled together and shook the entire forge.

"Mr. Yang Myeonghyun — run!!"

"Father, I will hold them!"

Hephaestus swung his hammer and gave chase as we bolted. Every time his colossal foot leapt up and slammed back into the ground, our bodies bounced like springs. The quakes born of his stride made fleeing nearly impossible. And with him being such a giant, no matter how fast we sprinted, he closed the distance again in moments.

"Jisan-hyung, running is pointless. We must call Hermes!"

"Do you think he'd help us now, of all times? …Hermes!"

Just as Yang Myeonghyun said, I called for Hermes — and got dead silence. Not a whisper of the wings fluttering on Hermes's hat and sandals.

'Damn it — wasn't it "call me if you want to return to the human world"?!!'

All the running I'd done climbing the tower had improved my stamina somewhat, but we were reaching the limit. Hephaestus would catch up and crush me flat beneath that monstrous hammer.

"Mr. Yang Myeonghyun — let's scatter the fire!"

"…What?"

"Just like they secretly threw down hope, let's spread the fire too. Either way, we only need to fulfill the quest's success condition, don't we?"

"Throw it where? It would only land inside the temple!"

"It's the only option we've got! He'll catch us any second!"

"……."

Every time Hephaestus's heavy footfalls drew closer, chills crawled up my spine. We'd been running without a moment's rest; my breath came ragged and my heart felt ready to burst. Yang Myeonghyun, admitting he had no better plan, nodded to me. And the very moment I summoned the leaflet in my mind to draw out the fire —

— the wingbeats I'd been waiting for finally sounded.

"The finishing touch of a grand city must be flawless!"

'Hermes!'

Hermes, streaking in at full speed like a jet, waved his hands and cut Hephaestus off from me.

"I am the son of Lord Zeus. I cannot help you. In return, however, I can entrust the ember to Aeolus, god of the winds."

"Yes! Please do!"

Typical of Hermes, the god who deceived gods with lies and pranks — he rattled off another absurd piece of sophistry. In truth he was actively helping us the whole while, keeping up verbal appearances. I kept my feet moving as I pulled the fire out of the leaflet.

Shhwaaap—

"Throw it with all your might. It may yet reach Aeolus's breath."

'As far as I can…!'

At Hermes's instruction, I whipped my arm back and flung it hard. For that one moment I pictured myself a hammer-throw champion, and hurled the fire with everything I had. A fierce gwind swept in out of nowhere and carried the flame away — the breath of Aeolus.

"……."

"……."

And in an instant, the raging forge fell perfectly still. When I turned around, Hephaestus and Hermes were gone, leaving only me and Yang Myeonghyun inside the forge.

"Wooow…! A warm fire!! The cold is gone!"

The gods hadn't evaporated, of course — they had simply withdrawn on purpose. Cheers rang up from below the forge. The humans, having regained their fire, were overjoyed.

'The wind god delivered the fire safely to the human world.'

"No more eating raw meat until we drop dead, eh?"

"This fire is so warm~"

Warmth already brimmed over in the humans' voices. My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor of the forge.

"Ha… I guess we pulled it off."

I wiped away the flood of sweat and let out a long breath of relief. Every quest I'd endured so far had been grueling, but this one had been worse. 'Having to face "fire" at point-blank range and hold out against it — of course it was.'

Shhwaaap—

Perhaps because the road to clearing the quest had been such an ordeal, this particular leaflet felt more welcome than any before it.

"Thankfully, we were not struck by lightning."

"Haha…."

Yang Myeonghyun remarked it so matter-of-factly that I let out a small laugh. My body ached all over from being tormented by loudmouthed gods — but at last, it seemed, a little peace was finding us.

"KYAAAAAK—!!"

Then, without warning, a scream tore through the human world below. A shrill, piercing cry loud enough to fill every corner of Olympus's forge. These were the same people who, mere moments ago, had been rejoicing at the return of fire.

"Jisan-hyung. What on earth is this…. Didn't you say the quest was cleared?"

"…It was cleared, all right."

Prometheus gave fire to mankind, and for it he was chained to a rocky crag, an eagle pecking out his liver for eternity. Zeus spread every calamity imaginable across the human world through Pandora's box, and men killed one another.

"The calamities that befell mankind after they took the fire — they're beginning all over again."

Like the hands of a wound-up clock, the human world was spinning rapidly toward its fate.