Brantley was not prepared for this situation.
‘I thought Hanelope would have told them.’
Aite noticing Brantley’s reaction, laughed it off.
“Hanelope must have been busy. She’s had a lot on her plate lately.”
But inside, Aite’s thoughts were different.
‘Why didn’t Hanelope tell us? She knows we’re looking for Grauzer.’
Brantley spoke, “When I was holding this book, Hanelope touched it and was transported to Grauzer’s temple.”
Upon hearing this, Aite realized why Hanelope kept this hidden. Her golden eyes gleamed.
“Then you can enter the sanctuary too, right?”
“I don’t know that..”
“There is no way Hanelope didn’t figure this out.”
“Figured out what?”
Aite sighed, “Why do you think you can open the portal to the temple?”
“Well…”
“It’s because you’re Grauzer’s reincarnation.”
Brantley’s pitch-black eyes widened.
‘If Aite’s words are true, then everything that’s been strange makes sense now.’
It’s because I’m Grauzer’s avatar that Hanelope was able to enter the temple. That’s why I knew what medicine Prince Hart had to take or how the brainwashing spell worked.
“You’ve always been too powerful to be a mere human. Even back when you were a mercenary, you played with monsters like they were toys,” Aite remarked.
Brantley couldn’t respond. He simply trembled as he stared at the book.
Aite looked at him sympathetically, “Do you still want to go to Grauzer’s temple?”
“Yes…”
“Then hold the book and pray for the sanctuary to open to you. The door shall appear.”
Without hesitation, Brantley clutched the medical book tightly with both hands.
But Aite added, “I have to tell you something. Grauzer’s avatars possess immense power. If you combine your strength with Grauzer, you might be able to protect Hanelope from Prache. But…”
“…”
“If you become one with a god, as his avatar, you’ll cease to exist.”
“I don’t care. As long as I can help Hanelope,” Brantley answered with a determination that even surprised Aite.
Then he closed his eyes tightly.
‘If I truly am your avatar, Grauzer, please allow me to your temple.’
Brantley prayed earnestly.
Soon, his body felt as though it were floating, and a sense of comfort, as if lying in a cradle, washed over him. When Brantley opened his eyes, he was inside the dark and silent sanctuary.
In the center, he saw two figures entwined together— Hanelope and Prache.
A blue light was flowing from Prache and piercing into Hanelope’s chest, seeping into her.
“Hanelope!” Brantley rushed toward her. But an invisible barrier stopped him, throwing him back.
No matter how many times he charged at it, the result was the same.
“No! D*mn it!”
At that moment, something caught Brantley’s eye; someone was suspended in the air, wrapped in blue threads like a prey.
Brantley instinctively knew who it was.
‘Grauzer! And once, that had been me.’
Thump!
His heart pounded loudly. And forgotten memories surged like a wave. Memories from a long, long time ago. Yet, they felt as fresh as yesterday.
It was an era when humans, vulnerable to divinity, begged for the mercy of the gods. But there were those who refused that mercy. They were the free people, the Koch, who refused to become slaves to the gods.
Among them, there was a particularly defiant woman.
“Why do you reject my mercy?”
“Just because you offer it, does that mean I must accept it?”
“Without a god’s mercy, weak humans like you will perish quickly.”
“True strength is never giving up your freedom, even in the face of death.”
She didn’t yield to him.
Even the stubborn Koch bowed their heads in the presence of a god, but this woman stared him straight in the eyes.
Was that why? Even after returning to his temple, he couldn’t forget those sweet, pink eyes. So, he went to her every day, asking the same question.
“Will you accept my mercy?”
“No. My heart remains unchanged.”
Every day he asked, and every day she refused. Then one day, Grauzer realized something. He had been asking the wrong question.
“Will you… accept my heart?”
The woman finally responded, “I’ve been waiting for you to ask. Yes, of course!”
The idea of love between a god and a human was absurd. Yet, knowing this, he couldn’t leave the woman.
Her sweet smile and gentle voice made him happy.
So he thought, ‘Let’s give humans their freedom. Let’s protect them from divinity so they won’t have to beg for a god’s mercy.’
But there was another god who thought the opposite.
A god who wanted all humans to kneel at his feet, Prache. Prache secretly murdered the woman and sent her soul to another world.
While Grauzer was desperately trying to retrieve her soul, he sealed away the gods one by one. And when Grauzer had exhausted himself searching for her, Prache easily sealed him away too.
Before being sealed, Grauzer managed to leave a fragment of himself behind in the world.
To protect the Kochs. Until he could meet her again.
Brantley’s tears streamed down his cheeks. Beyond his blurred vision, he saw Hanelope trapped by Prache.
Those sweet, pink eyes.
That lovely smile.
That gentle voice.
He had discarded his memories and emotions to fulfill the duty of protecting the Koch. But the moment he saw her again, even the restrictions he had imposed on himself became meaningless.
Hanelope was the woman he had loved.
For reasons beyond his understanding, her soul, which had vanished into another world, had returned and reincarnated as Hanelope.
And now, she stood before him.
He had to protect her.
Even if it meant his own destruction.
Brantley shouted at Grauzer, who hung suspended in the air, “Grauzer, take back the power you gave me!”
The body hanging in the air trembled, and the blue threads wrapped around it turned to dust and fell away as Grauzer looked at his avatar.
Brantley cried out, “I don’t care if I disappear. Just protect Hanelope!”
Grauzer nodded.
In that instant, Brantley turned into black smoke and vanished. The black smoke rose into the air and was completely absorbed by Grauzer.
Grauzer took a deep breath and blinked. When he opened his eyes, they shone with a different light. Just as Brantley had done, Grauzer gazed at Hanelope with a look of deep affection.
He then flew swiftly toward Prache, who was together with Hanelope, and struck him with full force.
Caught off guard by the sudden blow, Prache was sent tumbling backward.
The blue light that had been piercing Hanelope’s chest was pulled out by Grauzer’s hand. Hanelope staggered from the pull. But Grauzer caught her. He looked at the light returning to her pink eyes in awe.
Hanelope’s eyes widened as she realized whose arms she was in.
“Y- You’re…”
Grauzer smiled warmly and hid Hanelope behind him. Then he turned and fixed a cold gaze on the figure before him.
Prache twisted his lips into a sneer.
“You, who are trapped here, with both your power and freedom sealed away, do you think you can defeat me by just absorbing an avatar?”
Instead of responding, Grauzer unleashed a black beam of divine energy toward Prache. The transparent barrier that had been obstructing Hart shattered with a loud crash.
Prache sent out a blue beam noticeably brighter and stronger of divine energy toward Grauzer.
“Urgh…!” Grauzer groaned.
But he gritted his teeth and sent out several more beams of divine light. Prache retaliated with even more powerful and numerous beams. As the divine energies clashed, they pierced each other’s bodies.
Prache winced at the pain of his body being slightly ripped open. But only a mocking laugh escaped him. On the opposite side, Grauzer was in tatters.
“Even after being trapped for so long, you still haven’t learned? Once again, you’re doing something foolish over a mere woman!” Prache cackled.
But in his distraction, Grauzer managed to land a blow, causing Prache to double over in pain.
“D*mn you, Grauzer…!”
Prache lifted his head in rage, only to see Grauzer collapse on the ground, utterly destroyed.
That had been Grauzer’s final blow.
A maniacal gleam of joy spread across Prache’s face, “Ha- hahaha…!”
To be defeated so easily! How pitiful!
Now, all that remained was to claim Hanelope’s body. With her as his vessel, he could completely eliminate Grauzer and the other gods.
‘At last, I’ll become the one true god I’ve longed to be!’
But the spot where Hanelope had been was now empty. While Prache had been preoccupied with his battle, Hanelope had moved beside Hart. She was forming a dome-shaped shield around him.
Realizing his hostage was slipping away, Prache fired a beam of blue divine energy at Hart.
But he was too late.
The shield was completed just in time, deflecting the beam.
“Sh*t!”
At the same moment, Prache felt an intense pain, forcing him to hunch over.
‘Breaking the contract… I’ve violated the prohibition against harming Hart. D*mn it…’
Though he could recover eventually, the problem was that Hanelope was now spreading her divine wings.
“…!”
They were the very wings of divine power that had once forced Prache into a long exile.
