Everything was white.
Everything was bright.
It stretched endlessly in all directions — a silent, boundless void. At least, that was how it appeared to Euri, who stood alone at its center.
Where am I…? Is this the afterlife? he thought.
His voice echoed without sound, reverberating through the infinite emptiness. His eyes widened slightly at the strange sensation of hearing his own thoughts ripple outward.
Then—
a sun appeared.
Not in the distance.
Not above.
It manifested everywhere at once.
Blazing radiance consumed the void in an instant. The white expanse ignited into blinding gold, and the light swallowed Euri whole. Flesh burned away. Muscle dissolved. Bone turned to ash.
There was no pain.
Only light.
Then—
He was whole again.
Euri stood in the depths of outer space. Endless black surrounded him, the vastness silent and eternal. Beneath his feet burned a colossal sun, its surface roiling with molten fire and solar flares.
Yet he felt no heat.
If anything, it felt like standing beside a warm campfire on a cold night.
From the darkness beyond the solar glow, a figure approached.
Golden hair cascaded to its waist, shimmering like threads of sunlight. Its eyes were the same radiant yellow as Euri's — warm, almond-shaped, and filled with gentle light. Pale skin glowed softly, snowlike despite its proximity to the sun. Its features were flawless: a straight, perfect nose; long golden lashes; thick brows the color of molten gold; lips softly tinted with warm rose.
The figure was unclothed, its form sculpted with perfect balance — neither overly muscular nor delicate, but harmonious and divine. It possessed no genitalia. Euri could not tell whether it was male or female.
Then it spoke.
Its voice was soft, melodic, and faintly deep — like warmth carried on sunlight.
"Hello, Euri. You must be confused."
Euri nodded slowly, eyes scanning the endless darkness, the burning star beneath his feet.
"Where am I? Who are you?"
The figure smiled gently.
"You are in my domain."
"Domain?"
"Just as you died, you were about to be sent to the afterlife. But I grasped your soul and pulled you here. Think of it as an alternate reality."
"Was that why I was struck by the sun?" Euri asked.
The figure nodded its head.
"Yes."
"And who are you?"
"My name is Phoebus Apollo. Humans simply call me Apollo."
Euri's eyes widened.
"Apollo? As in the Greek god Apollo?"
Apollo nodded.
"Yes."
"That means the Greek gods are real? Does that mean Hellenism is the true religion?"
Apollo shook his head gently.
"No. Every religion is true. The Norse gods you believe in are real. They hear your prayers. But so are the Greek gods… the Japanese gods… the Egyptian gods."
Euri stood in stunned silence. There had never been one true faith — only countless truths coexisting.
But a more urgent question surfaced.
"Why am I here?"
Apollo's gaze softened.
"I want you to become my vessel, Euri. The vessel of my power."
"Why me?"
"We are not so different. Our natures are alike. I have watched you all your life. From the moment you were born, I knew you were… special."
"Why do you need a vessel?" Euri asked.
Apollo's expression dimmed slightly.
"Eros, the god of love, and Python, the great serpent, killed me hundreds of years ago. Why, I do not know. Since then, I have waited for one worthy to inherit my power… and take revenge."
Euri shook his head gently.
"Revenge isn't my way. I'm sorry, Apollo. I don't think I can be your vessel."
Apollo turned away, golden hair drifting in solar wind.
"Becoming my vessel would return you to life," he said softly.
"I know," Euri replied. "But I'm fine with death. Death is a gift. Death is fate. I don't wish to challenge fate."
Apollo sighed. "You should know… Eros killed your village."
Euri froze.
"He sent that cyclops. He allowed it to slaughter everyone. Including your friend, Helios."
Euri's eyes widened in shock.
"Huh? He killed who…?"
"Your entire village," Apollo said quietly. "Children. Infants. And Helios."
"Why would Eros do that…? What do my people have to do with him?"
Apollo glanced back.
"Eros foresaw that you would become a threat to the gods if you continued living. So he sent the cyclops to destroy you… and everything connected to you."
Something stirred deep within Euri.
A feeling he had not known in years.
His brows lowered.
Anger.
"I will become your vessel," he said, voice steady. "I will slaughter Eros, the god of love."
Apollo smiled.
Light exploded outward.
Euri stood in a grass field.
Blood covered his body — his own — yet his skin was unbroken.
He inhaled sharply and looked toward the village.
Then he ran.
Wind tore through his hair as he sprinted across the plains. Minutes later, the village came into view.
He stopped.
Tents lay shredded.
Huts had collapsed into rubble.
Corpses covered the ground.
Men. Women. Children.
Even infants.
Some bodies were blackened with burns.
The smell of smoke and death hung thick in the air.
Then he heard it.
Breathing.
He rushed toward the sound and dropped to his knees beside a woman whose skin was seared and blistered.
"Are you okay?!" he asked desperately.
She gasped, raising a trembling, burned hand to his cheek.
"Helios is… is… gone…"
"Gone? Gone how?" he asked, refusing to accept what she implied.
"He's gone…"
Her hand slipped from his face.
Her body fell still.
Euri's golden eyes softened as tears spilled over, falling onto her lifeless form.
"My people… Helios…"
He wept openly, shoulders shaking beneath the weight of grief.
After a long moment, he lifted his gaze to the sky. Tears continued to trail down his cheeks as grief hardened into something sharper.
Something resolute.
"I will kill you, Eros…"