In the beginning, it was there.

There was nothing else.

It was wholly alone. Thus, it could bear eternity on its own.

Being able to and having to are not the same. As much as it did not need anything else to be itself, it thought that it did not need to be alone either.

To become two from one, it had to be split.

It chose to be cut as well. With a great sword forged from itself, it split itself horizontally. The lower part sank and became the earth, and the upper part rose and became the sky.

To commemorate the birth of heaven and earth, people named the moment the first strike occurred, [The Year of the Sword].

1.

Sylvia.

Formerly the Lady of the Golden Silk at Sormwyn Academy, currently the Grand Chamberlain and gardener of the Garden of Withered Flowers under the Death King Family.

She was oversleeping again today.

“Ugh… Mmm… Have you seen… Family Head, no, Kim Gong-ja… This is my true power….”

She must be having a pleasant dream.

Right now, when she’s starting to get confused whether her family name is Evanail or Ebinail, dreams are the only drug this world allows her.

But of course, the bizarre and nightmarish world created by the ruthless evil god did not wish for her to indulge in such deep sleep.

“Sylvia.”

The owner of the voice waking Sylvia from her deep slumber was a gentle-looking woman.

Once the immortal Dragon Emperor, once the Goddess of Protection, once the guardian sword of the empire, once a sword called Shiny, and so on… This woman, whose career comprised various unrelated and disconnected experiences, was named Shiny.

Currently, she spends her time in the Garden of Withered Flowers drinking tea with Estelle, her former enemy who had driven her own country to destruction, or, if it were to be titled, it might be called [I was bullied at school but reincarnated in another world, met a goddess, and walked the path of a god slayer with an unrivaled skill of forgetting memories].

One of those was waking up the oversleeping Sylvia.

“Sylvia, it’s time to get up.”

“Mmm…”

“Sylvia.”

“5 minutes…”

Sylvia said, clutching her goblin doll pillow tightly.

“Just 5 more minutes… please just shut up and wait 5 more minutes…”

Not getting angry was one of Shiny’s virtues.

She silently waited another 5 minutes before speaking.

“Sylvia, 5 minutes have passed.”

“You waited 5 minutes… Impressive… If you can wait 5 minutes… you can wait 10 minutes… I believe in your… [will to wait]….”

Being able to persuaded logically was also one of Shiny’s strengths.

She waited another 10 minutes before speaking again.

“Sylvia, 10 minutes have passed.”

“Nyaa…”

“It’s time to wake up.”

“Why?”

“You need to work.”

“What if… I don’t want to work…?”

Sylvia showed one hand while burying her face in the pillow.

“Think about it… Goddess of Protection… Shiny… Sparkly…

“It’s not Sparkly, it’s Shiny.”

“Ah, it’s basically the same… anyway, just think about it… If I… don’t want to work… and have such a golden will… what will you do…? Will you force me to work…?”

Sylvia then spread just one finger and flicked it back and forth.

“No, no, no… That won’t happen… it won’t… Sparkly…”

“I am not Sparkly.”

“Shiny, you will just let me sleep… And you will gladly do my work instead…”

“Hmm… Why would that be?”

Could it also be one of Shiny’s virtues that she responds calmly even to such nonsensical blabber?

No, perhaps it might actually be a flaw.

Either way, Sylvia answered in a dreamy voice, as if she was half-asleep.

“Because you are—a goddess….”

“…….”

“Please help, Goddess… Since you look somewhat like Verdandi anyway, do something worth your appearance… this was Sylvia… bye….”

“Sylvia….”

Sylvia didn’t respond any further. Her raised hand also dropped sharply.

She had left. To the world of dreams. After making not even a human, but a goddess, wait for 15 minutes.

“…….”

And even after such an incident, Shiny did not get angry. This was clearly a strength as well as an advantage.

Because Shiny not getting angry also meant [there was no need for her to personally get angry]. As Sylvia had said, Shiny was a goddess, and there were many who could get angry on behalf of Shiny.

So many that there were several within Shiny herself.

“Please, sister..”

“Yes. Leave it to me, sister.”

[The Goddess of Protection transforms into the Goddess of Protection ~Sympathy Form~.]

Shiny’s hair and wings darkened to black.

[The rank of the Goddess of Protection’s constellation is adjusted.]

[The skill set of the Goddess of Protection changes.]

The hem of the clothes draped over Shiny’s body tightened, and the loose, flowing dress transformed into a robe of coarse, monastic colors. Her nails, which seemed to be forged from platinum, also darkened to pitch black.

A black angel descended.

If it seemed like Shiny might be sued for trademark infringement by Verdandi, one of Shiny’s sword faces, [Sword of Compassion Stance], looked like it could receive a copyright infringement claim from a salvation army.

Even their personalities seemed similar as inferred from their way of speaking.

“Pain without injury.”

“Gyaaaaaah!~”

Sylvia jumped like a cat that had encountered a cucumber. The ability of the Sword of Compassion, inflicting pain, had instantly awakened her.

“Ah, what is this! This is abuse of Sylvia!”

“Are you awake now?”

“Awake? No. It feels more like I’ve been startled so badly I could never meet sleep again. What is this really? Can’t you treasure Sylvia a bit more!?”

“Shall I take it a step further?”

“I’ll go wash up and come out.”

Sylvia hurried off to the bathroom.

Shortly after, a refreshed Sylvia emerged, and there was Shiny, back in her original form, having prepared a meal.

Sylvia gobbled up a bowl of egg rice, ranting as she ate.

“Do you know? It’s because of such actions, trying not to dirty your own hands, that the Aegim Empire ended up doing those things to the advisors. Reflect on this.”

“Ah, indeed. Could that be related…?”

Shiny grimaced with a gloomy expression.

Sylvia stared at her with her mouth agape, then banged the spoon against the bowl making a thumping sound.

“What the… You were the one who summoned him and then got sealed by him. And what is this [could that be related] stuff?”

“But still…”

“Stop with the ‘but stills’ and don’t blame yourself. I’m just rambling out of irritation. Are gods that naive?”

After inhaling the egg rice and gulping down the soup, Sylvia finished her meal swiftly and stretched. Meanwhile, Shiny quietly waited beside her, still with a dark expression.

Sylvia clicked her tongue and then said while donning her gardener’s attire.

“By the way, what exactly were you fighting against?”

“What?”

“Whether it was Kim Yul or Kim Yul Mucha. There must have been a reason for the summoning. You even fought for a while after summoning him. What was the reason? I’m curious.”

“Ah, well.”

Sylvia was oversleeping so frequently that the director changed the assembly time to night. Estelle fumed, complaining that it inconvenienced the elders, and Kim Yul stood silently by her side, exerting silent pressure on Sylvia, but Sylvia was the embodiment of this country’s spirit of not succumbing to unjust power, and thus she endured calmly.

In short, there was still plenty of time until the assembly. Sylvia, carrying a shovel, and Shiny, with a bucket full of sunset, walked to the garden talking.

Shiny answered.

“I fought another version of myself.”

“Oh my. You were having such a friendly time drinking tea with the advisor… And even that alter form from earlier, when did the venomous virus reach there….”

“No, no! Um, really! I really did fight another version of myself.”

Shiny, uncharacteristically, flailed her hands in agitation.

Sylvia looked at Shiny suspiciously, then crossed her arms and said,

“Explain.”

Whether because she was too kind, or because she was shocked by the startling allegation of being infected by the venomous virus, Shiny willingly explained the fight.

According to Kim Yul, who was there at the garden, the explanation went like this:

“Shiny was split into two at that time. There was a bad Shiny and a good Shiny.”

“Are you a slime?”

Recently regaining his emotions, Kim Yul wasn’t as forbearing as Shiny. He shot a finger rubber band gun at Sylvia.

Sylvia felt a physical sting.

“Ouch! What are you doing!”

“Grand Chamberlain. It’s okay to insult me. But do not insult my former comrade. That truly tests my patience.”

“Oh, right. But, Family’s Shadow, just saying, who was it that brutally struck from behind the very comrade you respect so much?”

“…Above all, calling her a slime. Whether it’s a fish monster or a formidable enemy that can’t be defeated without magic and fire, stop using such ambiguous terms. Precise language breeds a clear mind. Sylvia. As a grand chamberlain, you are responsible for the cleanliness of the family. You need to be more aware of that.”

“Did you just change the subject?”

Kim Yul coughed then started flipping through his notebook.

“Um. Anyway. There are two types of sanctuaries. There are sanctuaries that someone [creates] like this sanctuary or the sanctuary of the Constellation Killer, and there are also sanctuaries that are just [born].”

“Oh.”

“The world of Cheomsan, Shiny’s world, was, so to speak, a [born] sanctuary. Everything that exists there came from Shiny’s body. The entire mountain range covering the continent was made from the decaying body of a giant dragon.”

“Hmm.”

“That dragon was also one of Shiny’s true forms. Thus, the long fight with herself finally left only two forces of Shiny. I was summoned by the weaker and kinder Shiny to fight against the stronger and evil forces of Shiny.”

Shiny, intertwining her wings and crossing her arms, added with hums,

“In a way, it was a process of [rebirth]. The fight that ultimately determined what kind of being Shiny would become. Just as the Family Head broke through the trials of the 70th floor to become a complete constellation, Shiny underwent the same process.”

Then Kim Yul told a lengthy story. How he broke each of the bad Shiny’s wings one by one, how he changed the world of Cheomsan during the process, and how he increased the number of people gathering under his and Shiny’s banner.

“It’s a story that, if cut out the cruel parts, would perfectly fit a 24-episode animation series to air in the morning.”

Shiny said with a nostalgic look on her face.

Kim Yul tilted his head.

“Really? I think it sounds like a story that could sell about 100,000 copies if made into an SRPG.”

Sylvia only made a disgusted expression and didn’t comment separately on the self-evaluations of this crazy combo.

Kim Yul asked,

“So, that’s all. Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

“So, you did change the subject earlier, right?”

For a moment, rubber band bullets and shovels flew in the air.

“Anyway, get to work! It’s almost mealtime.”

“Yes, yes. Oh, my plight.”

The three of them then went into tending the garden.

While Shiny fluttered about, hanging sunsets and gathering them, Kim Yul trimmed the long protruding rocks by wrapping aura around long pruning shears. Sylvia, crouching down, flipped the soil while grumbling,

“Ah, really… I also want to fight against myself right now. I’m the unlucky Sylvia, so the lucky Sylvia should knock me down and absorb… Wait, thinking about it, that’s annoying too. If there’s going to be absorption, I should be the one doing it. I should suck up all of Sylvia’s luck and become the true one-and-only lucky one… Hmm.”

Sylvia stopped speaking and closed her mouth.

Perhaps even she found her own muttering pitiful?

No, that wasn’t it.

“Oh dear.”

At the end of Sylvia’s gaze was a small marigold.

She had noticed that its roots were slightly protruding.

“She cried too much yesterday… not like she’s a frog with bulging eyes. Ah, now that I think about it, there was a time when she was a frog… Tsk.”

Sylvia scooped the soil with her shovel to cover the exposed roots, all the while muttering.

“Family Head, Family Head, hurry back. How long will you leave the flowers and ascend?”

Naturally, no one responded to her muttering. Shiny and Kim Yul were too far away.

Regardless, Sylvia continued to tenderly cover the marigold’s roots, muttering,

“Or perhaps you are already there? With your knack for moving undetected. Maybe hiding there with your invisibility skill… Ooh. If by any chance you are there, please shake that flower over there… Wow, darn it, that scared me!”

Sylvia was startled.

A sudden breeze had shaken the carrot flower.

“It really shook… Are you there?”

Startled by sudden gust, Sylvia barely managed to calm her pounding heart.

“It couldn’t be, if you think about it.”

Sylvia scratched the back of her head.

“Damn.”

Her muttering continued.

“You’re the one who put me in this situation. This condition is, well, it’s not bad… Not bad, but especially considering Kim Hwang-tae seems to be turning from dried pollack into frozen pollack, ah, I think I’m still better off… Still.”

Silence.

“It’s not just me you’ve done this to.”

Silence.

“There are many others… so you know.”

And then.

“Hurry back. Please.”

[ Key formation complete. ]

From somewhere, that announcement echoed.

[ All residents from the 81st to 90th floors remember you. ]

[ The 91st floor is cleared. ]

The tower’s announcement was not heard by Sylvia.

What Sylvia heard was simply this:

“Sylvia~ Let’s go have lunch!”

“Ah, yes.”

Rising at the sound of Shiny calling her, Sylvia gave the well-covered marigold one last look and stretched.

“What’s for lunch today?”

“Today we’re eating out. Let’s go to the Planetarium.”

“Ah, yes. I understand. …Well then.”

Sylvia snapped her fingers.

Thanks to the ability given to the vassals of the Death King Family, a staircase connected to another layer of the sanctuary appeared.

“Let’s go eat some salad while looking at that infuriating hamster’s face.”

Sylvia, Shiny, and Kim Yul trudged down the stairs.

And following them, someone who had heard the tower’s declaration also began to descend the stairs.

[ You are entering the 92nd floor. ]

*****