Within complete darkness—
The only sound that could be heard was water filling his ears.
And Jay kept sinking deeper.
I… can't breathe! Then why… why does this feel so comfortable?
Did I… die?
The water seemed to grow colder every second.
Even though he had already died once before, this time felt different.
Perhaps the fear of death had finally reached him.
…
No.
His true fear was—
Suddenly, a familiar masculine voice echoed through the darkness.
Hatred immediately began surfacing inside him.
"Jay… why are you so angry? Did you miss me that much?" the voice asked mockingly.
"…."
Jay remained silent.
Darkness still consumed his vision.
Raising a blue hand to his face, Roh began laughing softly.
"Ha… ha… ha… Your hatred toward me is amusing. At least, I think so. Isn't it ironic? The person you hate the most… is the one who understands you the best."
Clicking his tongue, Roh continued stubbornly:
"Ah, you're so annoying. Especially with that ridiculous fear of speaking honestly."
Jay's expression darkened with irritation.
"What exactly do you want me to say?" he snapped. "Fear? Are you delusional, Roh? Why would I be afraid? Especially of you confronting me? Give me a break."
A smug smile appeared on the icy spirit's face.
"Finally," Roh said while opening his arms. "And no, I'm not delusional. I'm simply telling the truth. Think about it, Jay. Just think. You still love the woman who ruined your life. Sometimes you even hallucinate about your happy memories with her. And somehow you're calling me delusional? How hypocritical."
Jay clenched his teeth.
He opened his mouth—
Then closed it again.
"There's no way to deny facts," Roh continued calmly. "Did you seriously think pretending to become your old self again would make me fear you?"
Even within the endless void, Jay looked away.
"Yes…"
Roh burst into laughter.
"How naive you are! How can someone with two lives still be this naive? Ha… ha… ha…"
Fed up with the humiliation, Jay finally shouted:
"Did you forget?"
Roh raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?"
"I spent… I spent my entire life alone!" Jay's voice trembled. "Even during my childhood. Even though I loved my parents… even though they tried to be good people… they never really were. They never gave me advice. They always left me alone. Completely alone."
As he spoke, small tears slowly rolled down his face.
"And when I finally found a real family… they took it away from me."
Roh fell silent.
Simply staring at him.
Then the spirit spoke quietly:
"Why?"
"…?"
"Why do you always make yourself the victim?" Roh asked coldly. "Tell me, Jay. Excuses like these don't work on me."
Jay lowered his head.
"Even with that past… was it really wrong for me to just want to be loved?"
Roh looked at him with faint disgust.
"To be loved?" he repeated. "Jay, look carefully at where you are. This is hell on earth, you idiot. How can anyone love you when you don't even love yourself? Besides… does love even exist?"
Jay began reflecting.
All his relationships.
The people he loved.
But there was one thing all of them had in common.
Slowly—
His expression became cold.
Empty.
Then he spoke quietly:
"Yes… love exists. But maybe… it chooses where it wants to exist."
The icy spirit's sinister smile disappeared.
Confusion appeared on his face instead.
"Roh… just look at me and think for a second. Love and hatred walk together like a pair. And they choose their believers."
The tears rolling down Jay's face slowly began freezing.
Then he covered his face and laughed.
"Why would love ever choose someone who only destroys and gets destroyed, Roh?"
"…."
Roh remained silent for a long moment.
That smile—
There was nothing inside it except pure madness.
And Roh instinctively understood something.
If I say the wrong thing now… I don't even want to imagine what could happen.
"…That's not wisdom. That's delusion," Roh muttered. "Explain to me how two complete opposites could ever coexist."
Jay slowly raised his head.
"Isn't that what faith is?" he asked softly. "Believing in something even if it contradicts everything else?"
Roh clenched his teeth.
Jay noticed immediately.
"Why are you clenching your teeth?"
The spirit said nothing.
Instead—
He simply turned his back and walked away.
Little by little, the coldness began fading.
I… won! But I also lost…
Jay thought that while laughter slowly overtook him again.
His throat started hurting.
Dark water entered his mouth.
Even so—
He couldn't stop laughing.
He laughed and laughed—
Until suddenly—
He felt a touch.
A warm touch.
Gentle fingers brushed through his hair lovingly.
The laughter stopped instantly.
In its place came doubt.
A terrible division splitting him in half.
One side wanted to accept it.
To embrace that warmth.
To return the affection.
But the other side—
Wanted to kill the being touching him.
Because someone as disgusting as him deserved something far worse than death.
His head began throbbing painfully.
"You monster! How could you do that? Killing someone inside our home? With our daughter here? Why did you hide it from me?!"
A desperate female voice suddenly echoed through his mind.
I can only hear her voice… but why can't I remember her face? Why? I only remember her blonde hair…
Then—
A light appeared.
A pure white light slowly pushed away the darkness.
Air filled his lungs again.
No… don't go away!
Jay begged desperately inside his mind.
But the light continued advancing.
The air returned alongside it.
Then suddenly—
He remembered something.
His eyes widened.
My… daughter…
The light swallowed everything.
"Jay…"
That voice.
Sweet.
Gentle.
It could only be—
"Lillith…"
As the light slowly faded, Lillith's silver hair reflected the sunlight beautifully.
Her dark eyes were filled with tears.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves above them.
Lillith looked at him with pure relief.
Releasing a heavy sigh, she muttered:
"…You idiot. Why did you fight that monster?"
Tears continued falling from her eyes.
Even though her words sounded harsh, her tone was soft.
"But…" she continued with a trembling smile. "Thank you for being alive."
"Lillith…"
Jay whispered her name again.
For a moment—
He simply admired the beauty of the Goddess of Darkness.
Then he noticed something strange.
Tiny black stains hidden within her silver hair.
Almost impossible to notice.
Were those marks always there?
No.
They definitely weren't.
If they had always been there… I would've noticed.
"Are… you okay?" Jay asked quietly.
Lillith froze in surprise.
"Huh?"
Her eyes widened.
It took her a few seconds to process the question.
"Yes! Yes, I'm fine, Jay. A-And you?" she replied with a forced smile.
Is it really that surprising for me to ask something normal?
As if reading his thoughts, Lillith laughed more naturally this time.
"You caught me off guard, Jay. Hehe… I expected you to start complaining and say something like: 'Hey, you know I'm still a kid, right?' Something like that…"
That's actually true…
But something else was bothering him now.
His heart was beating slightly faster than normal.
What exactly am I worried about? My life… or those black marks in Lillith's hair?
Wasn't the answer obvious?
How could someone like him—
Someone abandoned by the woman he once loved—
Possibly worry about—
My life.
The only interesting thing in his life had always been death.
He brought death wherever he went.
And death always found him in return.
Noticing his silence, Lillith smiled softly as her cheeks turned faintly red.
"Did you miss me?"
Looking away immediately, Jay answered:
"No."
A dry response.
Liar.
That thought crossed the Goddess of Darkness's mind instantly.
Jay stared toward the sky, nearly hidden behind the leaves.
Then his attention returned to the young goddess.
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Lillith…"
"What?"
"Do gods… really exist?"