“Honestly, I’m a little surprised. You weren’t a part of the board I envisioned.”

Pulling back from the embrace of Geon-joo—whose hair had suddenly lengthened—the golden-eyed Sa-yoon murmured softly. Staring blankly at the fading warmth of the entity that had slipped from his grasp as effortlessly as a phantom, the Demigod’s lips parted.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. And let me clarify one more thing: I am not the young angel you met. To be precise, while I encompass that angel, I am not just that angel. I am the True Body, the cumulative will of all my existences.”

Hah.

A hollow breath escaped the Demigod.

Staring at Sa-yoon’s luminous golden eyes, he clenched his fists.

How long had he waited for this reunion? 

Why did you choose me? Why did you shoulder all those sins to save me? Why didn’t you seek me out afterward? 

He had harbored so many agonizing questions that they had calcified into a lingering attachment, anchoring him to this world as he waited for the day they would meet again.

He had waited in silence, his power slowly scattering over what felt like eons, yet this long-awaited reunion defied his expectations. Was this why he had etched his will into his crumbling abilities before taking his last breath? Was this why he had poured every ounce of his remaining strength into that will to face death? Was this why he had endured the humiliation and held on…?

Swallowing a bitter smile, the Demigod felt the weight of his past millennia dissolve into futility.

“Then I suppose you can’t give me the answers I seek either,” the Demigod said. “Because the one I need is the child from that time.”

“Who knows? We won’t know until we talk. As I said, I am the will of all existences. The young angel you met, the young savior you encountered in your past life—they were all me.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Sa-yoon gazed down at the ancient Demigod, who had collapsed onto the floor, drained by the revelation that the entity before him was not the specific child he had waited for.

Sa-yoon offered a serene, impossibly tender smile, looking at the man as if he were gazing upon something incredibly precious.

“I am the purest goodness. And I saved you twice of my own volition. So, while my disposition might not perfectly mirror the children you met back then, I can certainly explain my intentions. What is it you want to know?”

What were you so desperate to ask that you let your lingering regrets anchor you here for so long?

It was a mesmerizing voice.

It sounded half-chiding, yet simultaneously incredibly comforting.

It was a voice that invited the listener to interpret it however they needed.

Blinking slowly, the Demigod buried his face in his hands and remained perfectly still for a long time. “…Do you regret it?”

The question finally surfaced after a heavy silence.

“Saving you?” Sa-yoon asked.

“Yes.”

“…I believe this body has already answered that question for you.”

“But I haven’t heard the answer from you.”

“Why do you say that? This body is also my will, and Sa-yoon’s will represents mine. I do not regret it. Not then, not now. Not when I was a child, and not when I was a young angel. If anything, it seems you are the one harboring regrets.”

“…”

Struck precisely on the mark, the Demigod offered no rebuttal. The golden-eyed Sa-yoon quietly observed the man, who stared at the floor like a condemned sinner, unable to lift his head.

“So it was that regret and lingering attachment that bound you to this earth.”

“…”

“I never imagined you would regret your own choice. Therefore, I couldn’t predict you would still be lingering here, which is why your existence wasn’t factored into the board I drew.”

Murmuring as if he had finally solved a puzzle, the golden-eyed Sa-yoon slipped off the bed and crouched in front of the Demigod. Sa-yoon rested his arms on his knees, propping his chin up to study the hunched man before reaching out to gently stroke the Demigod’s long hair.

“So this is why the current Han Geon-joo is carrying such a crushing sense of debt. Because you are drowning in regret.”

“…I was selfish back then. I used that child.”

“And if I tell you right now that it’s okay, that I don’t regret it… will that ease your heart? It won’t. It won’t alleviate your guilt in the slightest. Because the lingering attachment and regret binding you here were entirely fabricated by you. I’ve told you I don’t regret it; whether you accept that is entirely up to you. You can take my answer and finally let go of your lingering attachments, or you can continue to suffocate yourself, carrying this regret into your next life. But let me tell you one thing: I do not want to watch you willingly walk into hell. I didn’t save you so you could do that.”

“Then why did you help me?”

“Because I wanted to. Because it felt like the right thing to do.”

As Sa-yoon answered monotonously and withdrew his hand from the Demigod’s hair, the Demigod closed the distance, wrapping his arms around Sa-yoon’s waist and burying his face in his chest.

It was an act of pure, desperate vulnerability.

Without a word, the golden-eyed Sa-yoon gently patted his back.

A sudden chuckle escaped his lips.

To the child and the angel I once was, you must have looked so impossibly grand, but in truth, you were this small and fragile all along.

The heavier and more cruel the fate and karma one bore, the more it stimulated his compassion. That was why he had always moved the moment he heard a plea for help. Those burdened with tragic destinies were the ones who sought out the gods most desperately.

As a god, he had no choice but to act to fulfill those prayers.

He had granted the wishes of countless beings and offered salvation to many, yet the fragile Demigod trembling before him was the only one who had ever regretted using him. That was why his heart ached for him, why he couldn’t stop caring.

“…When I was a serpent seeking a god, I found you. When I was a god seeking salvation, I found you again. Whenever I cried out for help, it was always you who answered me.”

“I suppose your voice reached me.”

“I don’t mean something so simple,” the Demigod said, his voice muffled against Sa-yoon’s chest. “I mean that whenever I cursed the twisted Balance and damned the absolute laws, it was always you who appeared. That means… you are…”

Choosing his words carefully, the Demigod lifted his head to look at the golden-eyed Sa-yoon. Their eyes met, and the Demigod’s pupils trembled faintly.

“Are you…”

“Yes.”

“Are you… Balance?”

Balance.

The entity known as the origin of all things, existing before the world, before the seven sovereign gods. The source from which the seven sovereign gods were born, from which the lesser gods followed, from which the world was forged, and from which good and evil flowed.

The one who observed everything from high above the gods.

At the mention of that absolute title, the golden-eyed Sa-yoon smiled, bringing an index finger to his lips.

“That is not something I can answer.”

“But—”

“But I can tell you this.”

Cutting off the Demigod’s protest, the golden-eyed Sa-yoon raised his hands, gently cupping the man’s cheeks. He then slowly pulled the Demigod into a warm embrace, soothingly stroking his back.

“If you believe I am Balance, then I will be Balance. If you consider me a young angel, then I will be a young angel. If you think of me as an ant, I will be an ant. That is the nature of faith. Since you possess the kind of faith that manifests reality… believe whatever you wish to believe. If that faith is true, the sun will surely shine upon it.”

Holding the Demigod tightly enough to fill the void in his back, the golden-eyed Sa-yoon whispered softly before slowly pulling away.

“So now, it is time for you to return.”

Meeting Sa-yoon’s eyes at the gentle dismissal, the Demigod clamped his mouth shut, his face twisting in anguish. He clearly had a thousand things he wanted to say, but his expression screamed that none of them could be voiced. Reading every unspoken word hidden within that silence, the golden-eyed Sa-yoon smiled.

“If you’re worried about your promise, don’t be. You will end up keeping it anyway.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You’re lingering because the promise you made to help me is weighing on your heart. You feel you haven’t provided enough assistance. But this world isn’t the only place where you can help me. The current me is already receiving Geon-joo’s help as Sa-yoon, so lay down your lingering attachments and come meet me as the True Body.”

“What will happen if I come to meet you?”

“I will overturn the divine thrones and become the new sovereign god, and the Serpent God will ascend to the position beside me to assist me.”

“What?”

The Demigod’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

Only after studying the golden-eyed Sa-yoon’s serene expression did he realize it wasn’t a joke, but an absolute promise.

For the first time, a bright, genuinely delighted laugh erupted from the Demigod.

“The other gods will never allow it. They’ll violently protest, claiming I’m an omen of misfortune.”

“Why?”

“…?”

Met with such pure, unadulterated confusion, the Demigod furrowed his brow. As he blinked, genuinely wondering if Sa-yoon was playing dumb, the golden-eyed Sa-yoon tilted his head and smiled brightly.

“In the new rules I write, the serpent will no longer be an omen of misfortune.”

“…”

“That is what you wanted, isn’t it? Didn’t Sa-yoon also tell you? That he would grant whatever you desired. I intend to grant everything you ever asked for.”

“Why?”

“Because you suffered immensely to grasp it. So, it’s time for you to return. This is no longer our place.”

At the second urging, the Demigod did not show any sorrow. Sweeping his gaze around the room with a face entirely unburdened by lingering attachments or regrets, he finally locked eyes with the golden-eyed Sa-yoon and spoke his parting words.

“I’ll leave after sharing what will probably be my final lingering thought. I think… while I was missing you, I fell in love with you.”

It was a confession delivered with an incredibly light expression, as if he had finally laid down every burden he carried.

As his gentle voice resonated through the room, the golden-eyed Sa-yoon pulled the Demigod into a final embrace and whispered, “I know. After all, I only became complete the moment you killed me back then. Thanks to that, I became the purest goodness. Because goodness is born from love.”

At the word ‘thanks,’ the Demigod rested in the embrace with a face that looked precariously close to tears, before ultimately blooming into a brilliant, liberated smile.

His eyes closed.

That was the end.

The majestic aura commandeering their bodies vanished instantly.

GASP! 

Snapping his pitch-black eyes open, Sa-yoon violently shoved the unconscious Geon-joo away from his chest and shuddered in absolute horror.

“What the fuck! Did you hear that?! Did you fucking hear that?! Why the hell are these crazy bastards hijacking other people’s bodies to shoot a goddamn romance drama?!”

Sa-yoon finally understood exactly how Geon-joo felt when his Past Life seized control. Watching clearly as your own mouth spouted words and your own body moved, yet being entirely paralyzed and unable to stop it—it was a profoundly nauseating violation.

Forced to watch himself use formal language to comfort Han Geon-joo of all people, Sa-yoon threw an absolute fit, screaming about the audacity of hijacking someone else’s body.

Waking up a split second later, Geon-joo desperately tried to calm the hyperventilating Sa-yoon down.

“Stop throwing a tantrum and try to review the conversation,” Geon-joo urged. “Don’t you think we just eavesdropped on some incredibly critical information?”

“You call that eavesdropping?! Those bastards forcibly possessed our bodies, yapped about their tragic romance, and dipped! Ah, fucking hell!”

What kind of embarrassing bullshit do they think they’re pulling with someone else’s body?!

Fuming with unrelenting outrage, it took Sa-yoon a full ten minutes to finally run a hand through his hair and turn back to Geon-joo, who was staring at him with a look of mild exasperation.

“What’s there to review? It sounds like we’ll find out everything once the war ends anyway. From the looks of it, the True Body has already set the board, so we just need to play our parts on it.”

Ultimately, the secrets would all be laid bare if they won the war.

Sa-yoon declared that they could interrogate the True Body or shake down the sovereign gods for answers when the time came; right now, their absolute priority was the impending bloodbath.

After a moment of consideration, Geon-joo nodded in agreement.

Just then, rapid knocking echoed from the suite door as Gyeongjin announced the conclusion of the summit negotiations.

“Shall we go then?”

Adjusting his clothes, Geon-joo extended a hand. Seeing the younger man looking so impeccably put-together, Sa-yoon let out a dry chuckle. Thanks to both the Demigod and Han Geon-joo burying their faces in his chest, his tie was completely saturated with cologne. He roughly loosened the collar and firmly grasped Geon-joo’s hand.

“Yeah. Let’s go write our ending.”

Forty-four hours remained until the Final War gate opened.

Since the True Body had already drawn the chessboard, Sa-yoon simply needed to become the piece that checkmated the King.