Chapter 41

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Chapter 41

“Give it up.”

She raised her hand naturally and very dignifiedly.

“It’s not something you should have. It’s something you wouldn’t have been able to have.”

“Why?”

Dustin asked. He didn’t like the woman who suddenly appeared and asked for the stone he had defended with his life. Besides, was it something that he couldn’t have? Did he have to meet any qualifications to own something? Whatever it was, he had no intention of giving the stone away.

“Why shouldn’t I have it?”

At Dustin’s question, the woman immediately looked down at him with a cold expression. The golden eyes that shone brilliantly seemed to swallow him up at any moment.

“You foolish child. Why are you asking for an obvious answer? The fire is not yours. It belongs to the being lying there. It’s so shameless to steal someone else’s property.”

It was a resolute voice, like a rebuke. Then, the woman extended her hand further, telling him to give it. At that moment, words came out of Dustin’s mouth, against my will.

“…What if I don’t want to?”

“Are you really going to be like that?”

“If you really are a god, why don’t you take care of beings in need? Does a god really want to just watch over weak creatures like us? Is it your only role to watch and remain silent, knowing how we are suffering?”

Dustin held the stone in his hand and held it in place, as if he could never hand it over. Seeing this, the woman softened her anger a little and looked at him with pity. Then she responded in a moderately mellow voice, as if she was being sympathetic.

“Because it doesn’t fit the rules. It is not right for gods to intervene. Every creature must prove its worth and stand up. That’s what Mother wanted.”

“Prove? You sound funny. You’re just watching as beings die every day!”

Hearing the woman’s answer, Dustin was furious. Suddenly, his fists were clenched. Because of this, he was even embarrassed by himself. Why was he angry? But he couldn’t control the anger that was boiling inside him.

When Dustin went on an outburst, the woman narrowed her eyes as if she didn’t like his attitude. The cold atmosphere once again enveloped her.

“Are you disobeying the will of the Primordial God? How can you slander the one who made you and made you live? You foolish child. I am not neglecting you. I’m giving you a stepping stone to move forward.”

“How is that a stepping stone? Your words are pure nonsense. I will never hand over this stone.”

As Dustin still refused to turn the stone, the woman stood up and spoke to him. This quarrel is coming to a waste of time.

“If you continue to be like that, I have no choice but to take it.”

The woman clapped her hand. Then, very easily, the red stone came out of Dustin’s hands and floated in the air. It happened so quickly that Dustin didn’t even have time to catch up. He straightened out his hand towards the red stone. But before he could reach her, the woman took the red stone away. The woman said, rolling the stone in her hand.

“You have to think about getting up on your own, think about what you can do before even thinking about getting help. If all humans are like you, humans will disappear soon.”

Dustin exclaimed at the woman’s bold statement of the destruction of mankind.

“My family is dying of cold and hunger! How did I steal it! You said that god must not intervene, but if this is not intervention, what is it? You’re the one who told me the dragon’s weakness!”

At Dustin’s point, the woman let out a small sigh. I know, I know.

“So that’s why I’m trying to have it right now. I’ve intervened since I told you about the dragon’s weakness, so I’ll have to take the fire from you again. Without my advice in the first place, you wouldn’t even be able to defeat the dragon.”

“Who asked you to tell me! I’d rather let its claws tear me to death! Is it the role of a god to destroy hope in this way?”

“Enough. Because I know enough of my faults, I’m blinding my eyes to your arrogant foolishness. You will be the only one who shouts to a god like that.”

With a cold shot, the woman turned her back and closed her eyes and approached the limp dragon. She stroked the dragon’s tail. Then, to his surprise, new scales sprouted up where the scales had fallen. At the same time, the fallen dragon also began to wake up.

The dragon, who opened his eyes, narrowed and widened his yellow pupil, then found the woman and smiled.

[ Lady Anat! ]

Anat stroked the dragon’s head. The dragon liked it and made purring noises.

“Are you in a lot of pain? I’ve made you suffer for a while to check something. How’s your tail?”

At Anat’s words, the dragon lightly swung its tail. Seeing the tail swing well and the newly sprouted scales, the dragon smiled innocently and jumped around. His wings fluttered open as well.

[ New scales! New scales! Love it! ]

“And this. Keep it well. Your weakness was easily targeted because you lost your fire. Take better care of yourself next time.”

Anat handed the red stone she stole from Dustin to the dragon. When the dragon saw it, he said it was great and jumped more excitedly.

[ Fire! Fire! ]

The dragon swallowed the red stone that Anat had given him in the blink of an eye. With a gulp, the dragon’s wings and tail began to catch fire. It was a really cool scene for anyone to see. The dragon, with its roaring fire, suddenly thrust his head toward the sky and began to spit something out.

Whooosh! It was a very hot blue light.

The dragon, who had put on a fire show, put its head on Anat and purred. The dragon was smiling broadly.

[ Lady Anat is so kind! ]

“Go now. Be careful not to lose it again.”

Anat smiled and stroked the dragon’s head again.

[ Exciting! My fire! Blue fire! Red fire! ]

After that, the dragon spun around Anat, spitting fire, and then flew up to the sky and slowly disappeared. Anat watched it closely and then turned back to Dustin. She held out her hand to Dustin as before.

“…I stole nothing but fire. No more.”

“Who is saying that? Hold it and get up.”

Dustin narrowed his brow at the woman’s words. Did she give him the disease or the medicine?

“What are you going to do?”

“As long as I intervene as you said, I think I will finish it to the end. Hold on. Let’s talk while we walk. It’s been a long time since I’ve talked with a human like this.”

Come on. Anat smiled faintly. Dustin was silent for a moment at that smile. Then he reached out and took her hand. Of course it wasn’t his intention. From that moment on, his body continued to move and speak regardless of his will. It was as if someone other than himself was controlling his body.

Anat, who had raised Dustin, also restored his body to some extent. Only enough for him to follow her and move his steps. The two walked through the woods, which was open to the public because of the dragon’s rampage. Anat began to restore the forest by swiping her hand.

Dustin gazed curiously at the forest, which was quickly restored with the touch of Anat’s gesture. Was she really a god?

“Because I am a god. It is something that cannot be done without the power of a god.”

Perhaps reading Dustin’s mind, Anat replied with a light smile. By this point, he couldn’t doubt it any more. The woman in front of him was a god. Dustin hesitated, then lowered his head.

“…Earlier, I was agitated, God. Forgive me for being foolish.”

Naturally, respectful words came out of his mouth. The woman took it for granted.

“You should consider yourself lucky to have met me. If it were any other god, you would have been annihilated because of that cheeky attitude.”

“Annihilated…? Didn’t you say a while ago that gods can’t intervene?”

At that question, Anat nodded.

“Half right and half wrong. It’s not right to intervene, and it’s not impossible.”

Without any intervention, the existence of gods itself would not have been known. At Anat’s words, Dustin nodded as if he understood. Anat watched for a moment as the large tree regenerated and made green young leaves, then resumed her steps and continued speaking.

“The moment the gods intervene, they receive the world’s karma. I don’t mind intervening as long as I can carry that karma on my back. Of course, this also depends on the direct and indirect interventions, but the karma is different.”

“So, are you carrying the karma now?”

“Yes, to some extent. But if we restore this forest to its original state, the karma will disappear.”

As Dustin narrowed his brow as if he didn’t understand, Anat replied with a smile.

“You were originally destined to die by the dragon. But I made that fate go away. Rather, the dragon fell, and you stole its fire. But I stopped it. You returned the fire to the dragon, and you lived. So why not restore this forest and act as if nothing had happened? Then the karma would be over. In the end, it will be as if nothing had happened.”

Dustin couldn’t respond to Anat’s words for a while. In fact, Dustin wanted to talk, but his body stopped him. Dustin was forced to maintain an unwanted silence. It was only when half of the forest was restored that Dustin’s mouth was opened as if someone controlled him.

Of course, this was not Dustin’s will.

“Then, is there not one of you who is willing to help the creatures, even by carrying on the karma?

At that, Anat turned to Dustin.

“You have a lot of complaints.”

“It is still very difficult to understand. God, my family, humans, are now dying of cold and hunger. There are so many things in this world that are stronger than humans. Even in the face of nature, at the very least, humans are really weak. Why on earth do we humans have to live like this?”

Dustin complained of injustice. His chest warmed up again. Suddenly, his hand clenched into a fist was trembling. It felt like a mixture of sadness, frustration, hopelessness and anger. Anat walked ahead of Dustin without a word.

After a while, a flowing creek appeared. Anat looked at her face reflected in the water stream. Dustin followed her, staring into the creek. And then he was surprised.

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