Chapter 61: Between Chaos and Order (1)

It was completely out of the blue.

“…What?”

Suddenly calling him the Master of Chaos.

Of all people, the one who’d come here curious about the Chaos Goddess was being told he was her master. Lee Taebaek was dumbfounded.

“Where’d you sell your preamble?”

“Don’t you prefer getting straight to the point? That’s why I did. We’ll fill in the context together as we go.”

The woman curved her lips into a smile. Even in the pitch-black darkness inside, that smile and her silhouette stood out crystal clear for some reason.

Lee Taebaek’s subconscious was spreading out his presence detection throughout the chamber. His battle-honed Siesta Assassination Art would have it running passively at all times.

It would take him quite a while to even notice this fact. He’d only recently learned presence concealment, after all.

She—the Cult Leader—continued.

“You look like you have a lot of questions.”

Lips twitched beneath the velvet. Her voice, slipping through her teeth, carried a divine aura that touched the soul.

“I came to resolve my doubts.”

“I like that inquisitive attitude.”

“The Lilith Order’s hospitality is the worst. You summon me and then critique me like this.”

Lee Taebaek firmly averted his eyes.

“Even that rebellious look. Ah, sorry if that’s scraping your nerves too. We have a lot to talk about, so come closer? Can’t leave a guest at the door. That’d be a real brush-off. Come on in.”

“You talk a good game.”

“Eloquence is a virtue of a Cult Leader, isn’t it? We’re in the same boat, so you should understand. You’re quite the smooth talker yourself.”

Even faced with his curt attitude, she remained composed. She just sweetly brushed it off with a gentle wave of her hand.

“Flowery words and actually persuading someone with speech are different. To me, you seem like the latter.”

“And you’re the former?”

“I at least try not to lie.”

He grumbled sharply but took a step forward anyway.

The floor stuck黏ily to his soles. It felt like trudging through a swamp.

“See? You’re no slouch with words yourself.”

The Cult Leader said as she adjusted her slipping garments. Lee Taebaek stopped five paces from her.

“Come sit on the bed—why stand there?”

She giggled and patted the spot right beside her. Lee Taebaek replied with eyes that rejected any further communication.

“I heard from Kim Changsik what goes on inside the Lilith Order. No way I’m sitting on the same bed.”

“Oh my, you’re more straitlaced than you look.”

He was used to the misunderstandings from his gigolo-like face by now.

“Whatever. Like you said, straight to the point. You seem to know what I’m curious about, so skip the chit-chat.”

“Impatient personality. And full of suspicion. Well, that’s optimized for the City—hasty and paranoid.”

The Cult Leader propped her elbow on her thigh and rested her cheek on her hand. With her free hand, she pulled back the velvet.

Then she closed her eyes… and opened them.

“You…”

Lee Taebaek sighed as he looked at her.

It was her face, first off. Cliché as it was, it was blindingly beautiful.

Even he, who’d built up immunity seeing countless beauties, let out a genuine gasp of admiration.

Who even uses “perfect” for a person’s looks? But hers was damn near perfect. Yet perfection was a metaphysical human construct. All living beings had flaws. And this woman’s was…

“…You’re blind.”

Her pupils, half-hidden by lashes, matched the whites of her eyes in color. The irises were a faded gray shell.

She grinned mischievously. Her unfocused gaze contrasted with her glossy, just-peeled-egg skin.

“As you see.”

Yes. The Cult Leader was blind.

‘Blind shamaness, huh.’

He wasn’t surprised by the unexpected twist. Quite the opposite. He was stunned by how clichéd it was.

“You’re making an interesting face.”

“Pick one. Can you see, or can’t you?”

“The idea that you can only perceive the world with your eyes is a prejudice created by society. There are other ways besides sight.”

“What, you’re a bat now?”

“Sure, let’s go with that. Not Batman—Batgirl! Sounds cool and stylish! Call me Batgirl.”

Lee Taebaek silenced her with his stare.

“…Get to the point.”

“…You’re no fun. You don’t know yourself at all. Every bit of this conversation seems meaningless to you, but it impacts this world more than all your exploits…”

The Cult Leader pouted her lower lip petulantly. Lee Taebaek furrowed his brow.

“What’re you on about?”

“It’s a secret.”

Her downturned lips curved back into a smile.

“To the point, then. You’re curious about the Chaos Goddess I serve—not Lilith—and about the ‘Master of Chaos’ I called you the moment you entered, right?”

“You got it.”

“First, let me light things up.”

She suddenly whistled. The candle flames floating like dandelions seeds ignited one by one.

There were so many that the darkness lifted in moments. The chamber’s interior came into full view.

“That—”

Lee Taebaek’s eyes twitched. His gaze shifted past her.

“Let me introduce her—my mother whom I serve.”

The Cult Leader said flatly as she lowered the velvet. The fabric fluttered with her breath.

“Daughter of Chaos.”

What Lee Taebaek faced was.

“—Lilith.”

A massive cross reaching the ceiling. Nailed to it by hands and feet was a giant with its head bowed low.

In Laykuns, gods couldn’t interfere with the human world. They were like constellations in subculture—mere observers.

Lee Taebaek and his team had nailed that down during development. So they couldn’t have physical forms. A body meant intervention in the physical world.

They hadn’t even modeled gods since they hadn’t planned for them appearing.

I was the boss designer for Laykuns. Who knows better than me? So…

‘What the hell is this?’

Lee Taebaek was plunged into confusion.

“Doubt it all you want. Ironically, it’s suspicion—not faith—that’s always driven humanity one step closer to the divine.”

“……”

“Think of it as an artificial doll if you like. Or a hallucination from some cutting-edge beam projector. But you, Lee Taebaek—you feel it, right? That it couldn’t be. You trust your instincts. And what are they telling you? ‘This blind woman’s words are true.’ It’s ringing alarm bells, isn’t it?”

Spot on, Batgirl.

Did she sacrifice her sight for mind reading? It felt like ultrasound prodding his heart.

“Showing you the real deal should help you understand. How’s it feel, seeing a god up close?”

“Confusing…”

“Puhaha, honest answer. As the leader of the Order of Chaos, it’s music to my ears. Lilith will love it too.”

She turned to gaze at the giant on the cross—the Chaos Goddess Lilith.

“That’s a genuine god. You want to deny it, but it is. Funny, isn’t it? The goddess of chaos everyone worships, the one meant to bring disorder to the world, strung up like tanghulu.”

“She’s the god you and your followers revere. You talk about her like that? Sounds like denying her.”

She replied while staring only at Lilith, ignoring Lee Taebaek.

“Chaos is a concept born from denial. Denying stasis made the universe flow; denying nothingness birthed life. If we’d just affirmed everything as is, would this world—this universe—have ever changed?”

It sounded like bullshit at first, but had a ring of plausibility. The Cult Leader pressed on.

“Who knows. The world would probably be stagnant. I think blindly accepting things strips away your own drive. Déjà vu, right?”

“You’re talking about the megacorp oppression machine.”

“They preach order, but it means obey humans of the City in all things. No doubts, no denials, no walking your own path. Affirmation, order. Nice words. But who decides that affirmation and order? And who’s watching the watchers? Her up there?”

“So you deny even the god you serve?”

Her gaze returned, shaking her head slightly.

“Not denying her existence. You see her with your own eyes—she’s real. I’m just questioning her divinity. That’s the will of chaos.”

“Am I slow, or are you just talking in circles?”

“Oh? Trying to understand the Cult Leader of the Order of Chaos with common sense?”

…She was telling him to give up understanding.

“That should cover the preamble. Time to reveal the Chaos Goddess you’re curious about.”

The Cult Leader paused dramatically. This woman had a knack for building suspense.

“The Chaos Goddess is that hunk of meat—no, our grandmother hanging there. Name’s Eve. Lilith was born from her mother’s very denial—an impure byproduct. That’s why I’m the only god with a physical form: I denied truth.”

“The creator of gods.”

“Exactly. The parent. More precisely, the ‘mother’.”

“Then there’s a ‘father’ too.”

She nodded.

“The universe’s truth isn’t far off. It’s endlessly like us humans. Birth and death—we share that with gods. So gods are born the same way. Through seX.”

“…What?”

Did I hear that right? The conversation’s tone plummeted in an instant.

“SeX, seX.”

“Don’t emphasize it. I heard you.”

“Hehe, so pure.”

“You’re the crazy one.”

A beauty so dazzling it hurt the eyes. No—coming from a blind woman made it hit harder.

Blind saintesses were usually synonymous with purity—chastity, pure love. But this Cult Leader shattered that trope in one go.

“What’s wrong with seX?”

“Fuck, seriously.”

True to her word, denying even that cliché? If so, she was a master of buildup. Lee Taebaek felt a wall as a fellow Cult Leader.

“Sudden dirty talk. Not bad play.”

She was the host for those condom-tossing weirdos. He’d forgotten amid all the gravitas.

“Anyway.”

The Cult Leader clapped sharply. The echo rippled multiple times, making the flames flicker.

“Chaos Goddess Eve is Lilith’s mother. Guess the father? Right—the god of order. Name’s—”

“I think I get it. Stop there.”

“Fine. Names don’t matter. It’s being the god of order that counts.”

She shrugged and continued.

“Not just Lilith. All gods in this universe are offspring of those two: Chaos Goddess and god of order. Stasis and flux intertwined. Gods of gods, truly.”

“…Gonna need time to process this fully.”

“Makes sense—talking cosmic birth and all. Or how about we recreate the universe’s birth ourselves?”

The Cult Leader slyly pulled a square packet from under her pillow. She spat out the foil torn by her front teeth.

The moment the rubbery scent hit his nose, Lee Taebaek’s hand instinctively went to his umbrella grip.