The darkness exploded around Kim… but strangely, it was not an explosion of wrath.
It was an explosion of pain. A pain so deeply accumulated that the heavens themselves could no longer contain it. The dark aura wrapped around him slowly… as if trying to embrace him… or swallow him whole.
As for Kim… he remained standing in the midst of it. Trembling. It was as though the words that had escaped him moments ago had drained the very last of what remained inside him.
Then, he slowly raised his head toward the angels. His bloodshot eyes were filled with something no one was accustomed to seeing from him.
**Fear.**
Not the fear of dying… but the fear of continuing.
He spoke in a very low voice:
> "Has anyone among you ever tried… to be born in a place where you don't know how to live?"
>
Silence reigned. As for him… he flashed a faint smile.
> "I feel like a fish…"
>
His breath hitched slightly.
> "Born without ever learning how to swim."
> "Dropping straight into the sea."
>
He raised his eyes toward the void.
> "Everyone looks at her and says… *The sea is her home.*"
>
A small, broken laugh escaped him.
> "But she is drowning."
>
Silence. Then, he whispered:
> "And she doesn't die of suffocation…"
> "But from the fall."
> "From the slow descent toward the bottom… all alone."
>
His tears began to fall once more. But this time… he made no attempt to hide them.
> "Loneliness doesn't kill quickly."
> "That is why it is terrifying."
> "Every day… it pulls you deeper."
> "Until you become so heavy that you cannot return."
>
The air trembled around him. As for the angels… they knew not what to say. For the first time, they did not see "Chaos." Instead, they saw a shattered child trying to comprehend why he was even born in the first place.
Then, suddenly… Amon took a step forward, his eyes locked onto Kim. But this time… he wasn't looking at him as a monster. He was looking at him as a mirror he feared to see himself inside.
He clenched his fist tightly, then spoke in a hushed voice:
> "That is why… I am afraid."
>
Kim looked at him slowly. As for Amon… he let out a low, weary laugh.
> "I have a wife."
>
A small smile crossed his face for a fleeting moment.
> "Ridiculously beautiful…"
> "And sometimes I look at her… and forget everything."
>
He lowered his head slightly, then continued in a weaker voice:
> "And I fear."
>
Silence fell.
> "I fear having a child."
>
Kim's eyes widened slightly. As for Amon… he closed his eyes in pain.
> "I fear he might become like you."
>
The air froze. But Amon did not stop. It was as if he had finally opened a door that had long been kept shut.
> "I used to hate my father."
> "I hated him so much that when I first obtained power…"
>
His voice shook.
> "I killed him."
>
Total silence fell. Kim remained staring at him, motionless. Amon continued in a shattered voice:
> "I spent my entire childhood cursing him."
> "Believing he was the reason for everything I am."
>
He raised a trembling hand toward his face.
> "Then… I did the exact same thing you did."
>
Kim's breath caught. Amon looked at him with eyes full of genuine dread.
> "I hated my mother."
> "I pushed her away."
> "And I tried to kill her…"
>
His lips quivered.
> "Without knowing…"
> "That she was fighting the entire world for my sake."
>
Silence. A heavy, agonizing silence. Then Amon laughed softly, but his laugh was filled with self-disgust.
> "And now…"
> "Whenever I think of a child who resembles me…"
>
He raised his eyes toward Kim.
> "I feel terrified."
>
His voice shook even more.
> "I fear that he will look at me one day… with the exact same gaze you have."
> "I fear he will hate me without understanding."
> "I fear he will become a broken version of me."
>
His eyes gradually grew red.
> "And I fear most of all…"
> "That I will love him… and then hurt him while trying to protect him."
>
Kim froze. Because those words… struck something deeply embedded within him.
Amon finally whispered:
> "I am not afraid of you, Kim."
> "I am afraid… that another person will be born to suffer just like you."
>
Silence reigned. Even the darkness around Kim… began to calm down slightly. It was as if something inside him… had heard those words.
As for Kim… he slowly lowered his head. Then, he laughed. A small, exhausted… and painful laugh.
> "So…"
> "Even love has become something that frightens people."
>
Then, he raised his eyes toward the fracturing sky, his eyes terrifyingly hollow.
> "How broken must a human be…"
> "To make others afraid of having a child who resembles him?"
>
And in that very moment… even the angels… could find no answer.