I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 114

Tyrant Dad, I’ll Protect You! Episode 114. Moira, the God of Time (114/140)

Episode 114. Moira, the God of Time

January 2, 2024

Acid’s past five years had been agonizing, a time of near-death experiences.

He traversed the Ice Cliff and wandered alone through the Demon Realm for years. If there were demons in his path, he killed them. If there were strange plants, he cut them down, silently walking without a word.

The messenger bird he had met when passing through the Ice Cliff could not enter the Demon Realm. Therefore, he couldn’t even write a letter to Sienna.

Truly, days felt like years as he reached the center of the Demon Realm.

The Demon Realm was never kind to humans.

But Acid continued to walk silently, reaching a lake of lava in the Demon Realm. He crossed the lava lake on a ship made of iron. Once he crossed this lake, the end of the Demon Realm seemed within reach.

A wildfire of hope spread through his heart, which had been silently walking without a thought.

And at that moment, the devil’s temptation echoed in his ear.

“I will give you wealth. Just stay here.”

“I don’t need it.”

He was certain that he had no desire for wealth. So, he could easily reject it. But the devil’s temptation was persistent.

Next, another devil began to circle around him.

“I will make you the strongest human. If you take me back to the human realm.”

“I’m not interested.”

Similarly, he had never thought about becoming the strongest in the world. No matter how much they chattered to tempt him, they only felt like annoying mosquitoes.

However, as he rowed to the end of the lava lake on the iron scrap boat, a devil with a nimble tongue approached him and whispered.

“I will give you an eternal illusion.”

“…What?”

“A beautiful illusion where the one you love loves you.”

The very words that he would show Sienna loving Acid made Acid falter for a moment.

The moment his heart lost its composure and wavered, he almost dropped the oar from his hand.

Not only that, but a huge storm arose in the lava lake, and the scrap iron boat tilted precariously.

The moment ‘the one he loved’ came to his mind, the moment he was tempted by desire, the hot lava that had been peacefully embracing the scrap iron boat began to surge as if to engulf him.

The devil chuckled with satisfaction and said again.

“Don’t you want to be loved by the person you love?”

Of course, Acid wanted to be loved by Sienna.

But before that, he wanted to save her.

He didn’t want to be with Sienna in an illusion for a long time. His feelings were not so insignificant.

Acid resolutely spat out his heart.

“I don’t need it.”

At those words, the storm gradually subsided.

The lava, which had been moving roughly as if angry, slowly began to sink to the bottom of the lake.

“It’s a pity, human.”

The devil licked its tongue as if disappointed, then spread its wings and flew out of the lake.

The boat, which had been tilting due to the storm, began to sail straight again as soon as Acid steeled his heart.

Until the very end, the devils did not give up. Until he reached the end of the lava lake, the devils knew his desires and poked at them like awls.

But, Acid overcame the devil’s temptation nonetheless.

‘Because Sienna wants to live in reality, I have a duty to save her.’

Just thinking of Sienna made it easy to escape the devil’s temptation.

Having safely crossed the lava lake, Acid began to walk through a meadow teeming with demons once more.

Walking through the meadow was also quite mentally exhausting. The same was true for physical strength. A whopping five pairs of iron shoes had worn out in the Demon Realm alone.

But it was nothing to Acid.

He calmly endured all of this and finally put on his last pair of shoes.

In his eyes, as he put on the shoes, he saw a very small door at the edge of the Demon Realm.

According to the contents of the prophecy he knew, inside this door, which was the end of the Demon Realm…….

“This is…….”

……‘the origin of this world’ would be there.

And what unfolded before Acid’s eyes was a place of brilliant light that was impossible to imagine as the dark end of the Demon Realm.

He saw an endless field of green barley.

The sight of countless green barley swaying together in the soft, breath-like breeze was so dazzling that it was breathtaking.

“Is this the origin of the world?”

Acid looked up at the sky.

This place, where the sun peeked out from the clear sky, was the origin of the world past the end of the Demon Realm.

This incredibly paradoxical situation filled his heart.

It was truly a place where all kinds of life sprouted, where the sunlight shone as if twilight would never fall…….

“It’s where Moira, the God of Time, is.”

He pressed the front of his shoe, which seemed to be worn out already, firmly against the ground and looked around.

However, despite arriving at what was presumed to be the origin of the world, no god or human figure was visible.

‘Gods are said to exist in different forms.’

He looked around and paused.

Between the fields of green barley, he saw a familiar old man’s figure peeking out.

The old man with a bent back was the one he had met at the Ice Cliff.

The old man smiled again, chuckling and reaching out to Acid.

“Beautiful young man, will you help me?”

“…Who are you?”

If he was in this place, he must be Moira.

But as Acid knew, the God of Time, Moira, was a goddess.

As if reading his mind, Moira spoke in a seemingly friendly manner.

“Moira can be anything. Because she is the God of Time. Don’t be prejudiced.”

Pop!

With a small noise, Moira transformed into the image that Acid had in his mind.

It was the appearance of a gentle goddess.

“So, what is your purpose for coming all the way here to find me?”

“Let’s make a bet.”

A strange light flashed in Moira’s eyes.

“What do you want to gain by betting?”

“I’ve heard that you can change fate if you win the bet. I was born with the fate to kill Mirmod, and I want to change that fate.”

“I see……. You mean you want to change the causality of fate?”

“That’s right.”

Acid nodded silently.

Looking at the blunt Acid, the God of Time, Moira, transformed her body into wind.

The intangible wind lightly brushed against Acid’s forehead.

A clear, laughing sound rang in his ear.

“Humans create trivial things, but when gods design humans, they create the purpose of that human. You are a human created to cut down and kill Mirmod.”

“I refuse that fate.”

“No, you cannot refuse.”

At Moira’s firm words, Acid tightly closed and opened his eyes.

“Then, is everything I do according to fate?”

Moira clicked her tongue, looking at the seemingly confused lamb.

“Well, to give you some comfort, your loving that child is your free will. Gods don’t design things like that.”

“…That’s a relief.”

Even though it wasn’t a situation to laugh, Acid smiled faintly.

He was pleased that his choice to love Sienna was not bound by fate, but was a choice as a human.

So now, it was his turn to change fate according to his choice.

“I’ll say it again. No matter what purpose I was designed for, I want to change that fate. I want to be with Sienna Mirmod for a long time. So, Moira, please bet with me.”

Moira smiled softly.

The god whispered kindly into Acid’s ear. Until Acid’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Before we make a bet. I must set conditions. If you win, I, like a capricious god, will turn the causality and temporarily stop the wheel of fate.”

“That’s…….”

“So that the contents of the prophecy cannot be established, so that you can deviate from fate.”

“I understand.”

Looking at Acid’s firmly determined expression, Moira uttered eerie words in a gentle tone.

“Oh, baby. But if you lose, fate will destroy your souls even faster. You die, Sienna dies, and a miserable end comes to all Mirmods. That is the side effect of someone who tries to twist causality but fails.”

“…I will definitely succeed.”

Looking at Acid’s firmly closed lips, Moira burst into a kind smile. She spoke in a gentle tone, befitting a ‘goddess’.

“Before we talk about the bet, for my precious soul, I will give you my little gift.”

In her hand was none other than a gift bundle.

As Acid was about to ask what this was, Moira raised her hand as if to refuse the question.

“That is Sienna Mirmod’s. If you give it to that child, a good gift will go at the right time.”

“The right time?”

“Yes. To be precise, ‘when you win the bet’.”

“If I fail the bet…….”

Moira’s seemingly kind voice instantly turned as cold as ice.

“That gift bundle will never be opened.”

Towards Acid, whose face had hardened, Moira whispered in a kind tone.

“Just win the bet, baby.”

Acid stared at Moira silently and bit his lip.

“Yes, I suppose so. What bet do you want to place on me, Moira?”

“Ah. Our bet is——. If ——, you win, and if ———, you lose. How about it?”

As soon as he heard the bet, Acid’s face turned anxious.

He knew that the ‘bet’ would not be easy.

But he didn’t know it would be this difficult.

He pressed down on his eyelids with his hand and sighed briefly.

“That kind of bet…….”

Moira asked kindly.

“Yes. It’s difficult. Very difficult.”

“…….”

“Ah, child. Do you think it’s impossible to win the bet? If it’s difficult, you can go back now. You can just accept fate.”

Listening to her question, Acid pondered for a long time.

‘Can I win against such a cruel god’s bet? Wouldn’t I be giving that person an even more painful death in vain?’

It wouldn’t matter if only his life was at stake.

But wasn’t Sienna’s fate at stake?

For a long time, he only watched the grains of the green barley field ripen, then suddenly stared at Moira, who seemed very bored.

“I’ll take that bet.”

“Really? I thought you would give up.”

Moira gave a good-natured smile and tapped the gift bundle placed on Acid’s hand.

“Then go back now.”

“How-.”

“Right now, I will send you to the place you want. To the place where there is someone who can give this gift.”

At the sudden words, Acid’s eyes widened.

But it was only for a moment. Before he knew it, Moira’s hand touched his forehead.

Finally, Acid’s vision went completely black.

It was time to return.