Chapter 61 : Between Chaos and Order (1)
Chapter 61: Between Chaos and Order (1)
It was a completely unexpected statement.
“…What?”
The Master of Chaos, out of nowhere.
He had come here because he wanted to know about the Chaos Goddess, yet she was calling him the Master of Chaos instead. Lee Taebaek was left dumbfounded.
“Did you sell off the introduction somewhere?”
“Don't you prefer getting straight to the point? That's why I started with the point. We can fill in the rest of the story together.”
A graceful smile spread across the woman's lips. Even though the interior was pitch-black, for some reason, both her smile and her silhouette stood out with perfect clarity.
Lee Taebaek's subconscious had already spread his presence detection throughout the hall. The battle-hardened Siesta Assassination Techniques had passively activated presence detection at all times.
It would still take quite some time before Lee Taebaek himself became consciously aware of that fact.
After all, he had only recently learned Presence Concealment.
She—the Cult Leader—continued.
“You look like someone with a great many questions.”
He caught a glimpse of lips moving beneath the velvet. The voice slipping through her teeth carried a sacred aura that seemed to reach directly into his soul.
“I came here to clear up my doubts.”
“I like that inquisitive attitude.”
“The Lilith Order treats its guests terribly. You summon someone here only to critique them.”
Lee Taebaek narrowed his eyes sharply.
“I even like that rebellious side of you. Ah, if that happened to get on your nerves as well, I apologize. We have much to discuss, so would you come a little closer? I can't very well leave my guest standing at the entrance. That would truly be turning someone away at the door. Come now.”
“You certainly know how to talk.”
“Being eloquent is one of a Cult Leader's virtues, isn't it? Since we're in the same position, I thought you'd understand. You're quite the smooth talker yourself.”
Even faced with his cold attitude, she remained unfazed. She merely smiled sweetly and beckoned him over with a gentle wave.
“Talking prettily and luring people in with words are two different things. From what I can see, you're the latter.”
“And you're the former?”
“At the very least, I try... not to lie.”
Though he answered gruffly, he stepped forward anyway.
The floor clung unpleasantly to the soles of his feet.
It felt like walking through a swamp.
“See? You're quite the silver-tongued speaker yourself.”
As she spoke, the Cult Leader straightened the robe that had slipped from her shoulders. Lee Taebaek stopped five paces away from her.
“Why are you standing there? Come sit on the bed.”
Giggling, the Cult Leader patted the spot right beside her. Lee Taebaek looked at her with eyes that refused any compromise.
“Kim Changsik told me what goes on inside the Lilith Order. How could I possibly sit on the same bed as you?”
“My, you're much more rigid than your appearance suggests.”
People had misunderstood him so often because of his pretty-boy face that he had long since stopped caring.
“Enough of that. Like you said, let's stick to the point. You seem to know what I'm curious about, so let's skip the small talk.”
“You're so impatient. And suspicious too. Though I suppose that's exactly the kind of personality suited to the City. Impatient and paranoid.”
The Cult Leader rested an elbow on her thigh and propped up her cheek.
With her free hand, she slowly pulled back the velvet.
Then she closed her eyes...
...and opened them.
“You...”
Looking at her, Lee Taebaek let out a sigh.
First of all, it was because of the Cult Leader's face.
It was a cliché description, but she was genuinely breathtakingly beautiful.
Even someone like him, who had built up resistance after seeing countless beauties, couldn't help but let out a sincere gasp of admiration.
Could anyone truly call a person's appearance perfect? Probably not.
Yet her beauty came astonishingly close.
Perfection, however, was merely a metaphysical concept created by humans.
Every living being possessed flaws.
And in this woman's case...
“...You can't see.”
The pupils hidden beneath her eyelashes were nearly the same color as the whites of her eyes.
Only the faint outline of her irises remained, colored a pale gray.
She smiled brightly.
Her unfocused gaze contrasted strangely with skin as smooth as a freshly peeled egg.
“As you can see.”
That's right.
The Cult Leader was blind.
'A blind shrine maiden...'
He wasn't surprised because it was unexpected.
Quite the opposite.
He was dumbfounded by how perfectly it fit the cliché.
“You're making quite an interesting face.”
“Make up your mind. Can you see, or can't you?”
“The idea that everything must be seen through one's eyes is merely a prejudice created by the world. Vision isn't the only way to perceive things.”
“So you're saying you're a bat?”
“Let's go with that. Not Batman—Batgirl! It sounds nice, doesn't it? Please call me Batgirl.”
Lee Taebaek answered with silence alone.
“...Let's get to the point.”
“...You're no fun at all. You understand far too little about yourself. Even if conversations like these seem meaningless, they influence this world far more than all your exploits ever could...”
Puffing out her lower lip, the Cult Leader grumbled under her breath.
Lee Taebaek frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“It's a secret.”
Her pouting lips curved back into a beautiful smile.
“Let's get to the point. You're curious about the Chaos Goddess, not the Goddess Lilith whom I serve. And you're also wondering about what I meant when I called you the ‘Master of Chaos’ the moment you walked in, aren't you?”
“You catch on fast.”
“First, let's turn on the lights.”
She suddenly whistled.
The candles drifting through the air like duckweed ignited one after another.
There were so many candles that the darkness quickly retreated.
The entire corridor came into view.
“That—”
Lee Taebaek's eyes trembled violently.
His gaze shifted away from the Cult Leader and toward the space behind her.
“Allow me to introduce the Mother I serve.”
Lowering the velvet, the Cult Leader spoke calmly.
The fabric fluttered softly with her breath.
“The Daughter of Chaos.”
What Lee Taebaek saw was—
“—Lilith.”
A gigantic cross that stretched all the way to the ceiling.
Pinned to it through both hands and feet, with her head hanging limply, was a giant.
In Recons, gods were unable to interfere with the human world.
Like the constellations that often appeared in subculture works, they were merely observers.
Lee Taebaek and his teammates had established that as an absolute rule during development.
Therefore, they shouldn't even possess physical forms.
If they had bodies, that alone would already constitute direct interference with the physical world.
From the beginning, the appearance of gods had never been part of the design.
They hadn't even been modeled.
I'm the lead boss designer of Recons.
No one knows this system better than I do.
Then what...
Lee Taebaek was overcome with confusion.
“You're free to doubt. Ironically, what has always brought humanity one step closer to the gods has never been faith, but doubt.”
“……”
“You're welcome to think that's an artificially made doll. Or perhaps a sophisticated hologram projected by the latest beam technology. But Lee Taebaek... you can already feel it, can't you? That neither of those explanations could possibly be true. After all, you trust your own instincts, don't you? And what are those instincts telling you right now? Aren't they ringing alarm bells, saying, ‘What this blind woman says is true’?”
Bull's-eye, Batgirl.
Had she sacrificed her eyesight to learn mind reading or something?
It felt as though ultrasonic waves were poking directly at his heart.
“I thought it'd be easier for you to understand if I showed you first. So... how does it feel? Seeing a god with your own eyes?”
“It's... confusing.”
“Puhaha, such an honest answer. As the Cult Leader of the Chaos Order, that's exactly the kind of reaction I was hoping for. Lady Lilith will surely be pleased as well.”
She turned her head toward the giant hanging from the cross.
The Chaos Goddess, Lilith.
“That is undoubtedly a god. You may want to deny it, but it's the truth. Yet isn't it funny? The Chaos Goddess whom people worship, the one who was supposed to bring chaos into this world, is skewered there like a candied fruit.”
“That's the god you and your followers worship. Are you really allowed to talk about your deity like that? You're practically denying your own god.”
Still gazing only at Lilith rather than Lee Taebaek, she replied,
“Chaos is a concept born from denial. Because stillness was denied, the universe flowed. Because nothingness was denied, life came into existence. If everything had simply accepted reality as it was... would this world, this universe, ever have changed?”
It sounded like complete nonsense.
And yet... somehow, it also sounded strangely convincing.
The Cult Leader continued.
“I wonder. I think the world would have remained frozen in place. To simply accept everything is to discard your own driving force. Doesn't that sound familiar?”
“You're talking about MegaCorp's oppressive system.”
“They preach order, but all they really mean is that the people living in the City should obey everything. Never doubt. Never deny. Never walk forward on your own. Positivity. Order. They sound like such wonderful words. But who decides what positivity and order actually are? And who watches those who watch everyone else? Is it the one hanging over there?”
“So that's why you even deny the god you worship?”
She turned her head back toward him and gently shook it.
“I'm not denying her existence. As you can plainly see, she possesses a physical form. I'm merely questioning her divinity. Because that is what chaos truly means.”
“I'm starting to wonder whether I'm the one who's slow... or you're the one making everything unnecessarily complicated.”
“Oh my, did you really expect to understand the Cult Leader of the Chaos Order using ordinary common sense?”
...In other words, give up trying to understand.
“That should be enough background explanation. Now I'll tell you the true identity of the Chaos Goddess.”
The Cult Leader deliberately paused.
She was remarkably skilled at keeping people hanging on every word.
“The Chaos Goddess is, in a sense, the mother of the one hanging over there—no, the mother of our Mother. Her name is Eve. Lady Lilith is an impurity born after denying even her own mother. The reason she's the only god with a physical body is because she denied the Truth itself.”
“The creator of the gods.”
“That's right. Her parent. More precisely, her mother.”
“Then there must also be a father.”
She nodded.
“The truth of the universe isn't nearly as distant as people imagine. It's astonishingly similar to humanity. Just as humans experience birth and death, so do gods. Therefore, the birth of gods is no different.”
“Gods are also born through sex.”
“…What?”
Did he mishear that?
The level of this conversation had just dropped off a cliff.
“Sex. Sex.”
“Stop emphasizing it. I heard you the first time.”
“Hehe, how innocent.”
“No. You're just insane.”
She was a beauty dazzling enough to make one's head spin.
No, perhaps hearing those words from a blind woman made it even more shocking.
Normally, a blind saintess was the very symbol of purity... chastity... innocence.
Yet this Cult Leader had shattered that entire image with a single sentence.
“What's wrong with sex?”
“Damn it... seriously.”
Was she denying even that cliché, just as she'd claimed?
If so, then she was truly a master of setting things up.
As a fellow Cult Leader, Lee Taebaek couldn't help but feel outclassed.
“So suddenly using vulgar language, huh? That kind of play isn't bad either.”
This is the woman behind those lunatics who go around handing out condoms.
He had almost forgotten because she'd been acting so solemn.
“Anyway.”
Clap.
The Cult Leader brought her hands together.
The sound echoed repeatedly through the chamber, making the flames flicker.
“Lady Eve, the Chaos Goddess, is Lady Lilith's mother. As for the father... you've probably already guessed, haven't you? That's right. It's the God of Order. His name is—”
“I think I already know. That's enough.”
“Well, fair enough. The name itself isn't what's important. What's important is that he's the God of Order.”
Shrugging her shoulders, she continued.
“And Lady Lilith isn't the only one. Every single god in this universe was born from those two beings—the Chaos Goddess and the God of Order. The union of stillness and motion. They are, quite literally, the Gods of Gods.”
“...I think I'll need some time to fully process all of this.”
“Well, we are discussing the birth of the universe. That's only natural. Or... would you rather the two of us recreate the birth of the universe ourselves?”
The Cult Leader casually pulled a small square object out from beneath her pillow.
She tore open the wrapper with her front teeth and spat it aside.
The moment the distinctive scent of rubber reached his nose, Lee Taebaek gladly reached for the handle of his umbrella.