The Goddess of Fortune

Morning sunlight spilled over Greenhollow Village, but the fields no longer looked peaceful.

Kai couldn't explain it.

The wheat still swayed gently in the breeze.

Farmers still walked the narrow dirt paths between the crops.

Children still laughed while chasing butterflies.

Everything looked normal.

Yet after hearing whispers beneath the earth, "normal" had become difficult to believe.

He tightened the strap of his backpack.

"I've officially reached the point where I don't trust plants."

Zephyr glanced at the wheat.

"They don't trust you either."

"...Should I be offended?"

"A little."

Kai sighed.

"I can't tell when you're joking anymore."

"Neither can I."

The two made their way toward the center of the largest field.

The farther they walked, the quieter everything became.

Birdsong faded.

The insects stopped chirping.

Even the wind seemed reluctant to enter this place.

Kai looked around uneasily.

"This feels wrong."

Zephyr nodded.

"It is."

"Can you be a little more specific?"

"The mana flow."

Kai frowned.

"What about it?"

"It isn't flowing."

Kai stopped walking.

"What do you mean?"

"Mana naturally moves through everything. The sky. Rivers. Mountains. Living creatures."

Zephyr crouched and picked up a handful of dirt.

"But here..."

He opened his hand.

The soil crumbled into glowing dust before disappearing.

"It stops."

Kai stared.

"So... the ground is eating magic?"

"Something beneath it is."

A chill ran down Kai's spine.

A loud flutter interrupted them.

Hundreds of white birds suddenly burst from the wheat and scattered into the sky.

Kai looked up.

"They're leaving."

"They're fleeing."

"From what?"

Zephyr didn't answer.

Instead, he looked toward the center of the field.

The wheat had begun parting on its own.

Not bending.

Moving.

A narrow path slowly opened before them.

Kai took an uneasy step back.

"I don't think we should follow the creepy path."

"It invited us."

"Exactly!"

Zephyr smiled.

"It would be rude to ignore it."

Kai stared at him.

"You and I have very different definitions of rude."

The path led them to a circular clearing hidden within the endless sea of wheat.

In the center stood an ancient stone altar almost completely buried beneath vines and moss.

The symbols carved into its surface had long since faded.

Only one mark remained visible.

A six-pointed star surrounded by a broken ring.

Kai reached out to touch it.

The instant his fingers brushed the stone—

A flash of golden light exploded outward.

Images flooded his mind.

A battlefield beneath a crimson sky.

Giants kneeling before someone whose face he couldn't see.

Thousands of gods standing together.

Then...

Fear.

Not his own.

Theirs.

The vision vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Kai staggered backward.

"What..."

He grabbed his head.

"What was that?"

Zephyr's expression darkened.

"You saw something."

"I... I don't know."

Kai tried to remember.

The images already felt distant, like a dream fading after waking.

"There were gods."

"And?"

"They looked..."

He hesitated.

"Scared."

Zephyr quietly looked away.

"I see."

Before Kai could ask another question, a familiar voice echoed across the clearing.

"I knew I'd find you here."

The air shimmered.

Golden feathers drifted from above.

Kai looked up.

A woman descended gracefully from the sky, landing lightly beside the ancient altar.

Silver hair.

White robes trimmed with gold.

Eyes that seemed to glow like morning sunlight.

Lyra.

The Goddess of Fortune.

Kai immediately straightened.

"Lady Lyra."

She smiled warmly.

"You can just call me Lyra."

Kai nearly forgot how to breathe.

One of the highest-ranked gods in the world had just told him to use her first name.

Zephyr looked mildly disappointed.

"I was hoping we'd have at least another day."

Lyra crossed her arms.

"You disappeared before I could ask questions."

"I was busy."

"Eating?"

"I did eat."

Kai looked between them.

"...You two argue like old friends."

Lyra laughed softly.

"Oh, we're not friends."

Zephyr nodded.

"We've simply known each other for a very long time."

"How long?" Kai asked.

Neither answered.

Lyra walked toward the altar.

The warmth in her expression disappeared the moment she saw the symbol carved into the stone.

Her eyes widened.

"Impossible..."

She knelt beside it.

"How is this seal still here?"

Kai looked at the carving.

"You recognize it?"

"I shouldn't."

"What does that mean?"

Lyra slowly stood.

"It means this symbol was erased from every divine record thousands of years ago."

Kai glanced at Zephyr.

The lazy god suddenly found the sky very interesting.

"Zephyr."

"Hm?"

"You knew."

"I suspected."

Kai groaned.

"You really need a new vocabulary."

Lyra looked directly at Zephyr.

"You've been hiding more than your strength."

Zephyr remained silent.

For the first time since Kai met him, the joking stopped completely.

The smile disappeared.

Even his posture changed.

He looked... older.

Not physically.

There was simply a weight in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

Lyra lowered her voice.

"Do you know what's sleeping beneath this village?"

"...Yes."

Kai's heart skipped a beat.

"You do?"

Zephyr nodded once.

"I was hoping it would stay asleep."

Before anyone could speak again, the ground trembled.

The ancient altar cracked down the middle.

A pulse of dark mana burst into the air.

Every stalk of wheat within sight bent toward the clearing.

The whispers returned.

Only this time they were louder.

Clearer.

"...He has returned..."

"...The Keeper..."

"...The First One..."

Kai felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He looked toward Zephyr.

"The First One?"

Zephyr closed his eyes.

"...They're remembering."

Lyra took a step backward.

For the first time, Kai saw genuine fear on the face of the Goddess of Fortune.

Not fear of the creature below.

Fear of the man standing beside him.

High above the clouds, unseen by anyone in the village, dozens of glowing eyes opened one after another.

Ancient voices echoed through the heavens.

"He has been found."

"The Forgotten One walks the world again."

"Summon the Council."

"No..."

A deeper voice interrupted them all.

"Do not confront him."

A heavy silence followed.

Finally, another voice whispered,

"...Observe him."

Far below, Kai looked at Zephyr with more questions than answers.

The one-star god sighed.

"I knew today was going to be troublesome."

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