“You are the ones chosen to prevent the end.”
Siegfried’s bullshit rang in their ears. Sinhyeok felt himself being forced farther and farther forward.
Baek Arin glanced to the side, signaling that they were being pushed toward the edge of the island.
‘Mister, what are we supposed to do?!’
‘I don’t know either!’
Sinhyeok wanted to dig in and hold out, but it was difficult.
It wasn’t just a matter of physical strength; every bit of energy in him sagged powerlessly.
“So rejoice.”
Before they knew it, they were at a cliff.
The island had arrived close to the center.
“Your origins will become a noble sacrifice to prevent the end. Just as the ancient gods once did.”
Tap.
Tap—they were pushed.
Then their bodies began to be sucked toward the center.
Siegfried smiled and waved.
“Do try to get along.”
“You son of a—!”
“Mister! You told me to stay still!”
Their bodies were sucked into the center, and Siegfried headed toward the temple.
“But there was a strange smell. Where did I smell that before?”
The strange scent drifting from Sinhyeok—familiar, yet impossible for him to identify—bothered Siegfried.
“Was it the smell of an elf? Hah, I really can’t remember.”
He sighed and stepped into the temple.
“Has this wretched passage of time gnawed away even at my soul?”
He mocked himself, lamenting his own state.
“I’ll have to endure that wretched passage of time all over again.”
He sat inside the temple and gazed outside.
The massive band of the seal that imprisoned Jormungandr.
“O forgotten chief gods. As you wished, the end has been stopped. Are you satisfied?”
At the answer that would never come, he chuckled.
“Of course you wouldn’t be. You were driven out and imprisoned. Heh.”
With a bitter smile, he thought of the chief gods of the present generation.
“Well, I’m abandoned too, after all. That’s why I live like this. This is why you have to pick the right side. Damn pigeon bastards.”
* * *
Pergana, the city where the Night World Tree stood.
Only the two of them returned there.
“Hiiiii~ How did it go?!”
Hong Ichan enthusiastically welcomed back Namgung Jincheon and Einri.
“…….”
But when he saw that four had left and only two had returned, he found it strange.
“Where are Mister and that rude brat?”
Namgung Jincheon spoke with a grief-stricken expression.
“They were kidnapped.”
“What!? By who!?”
He silently pointed upward.
“Up? The sun?”
[Emergency Alert]
Suddenly, the Akashic forcibly intervened in the system and issued a warning to everyone.
[Now, now, this is my domain, is it not?]
[Excuse me.]
[Good grief. Just this once!]
Through the system messages, someone and someone else seemed to exchange words.
“What is this?”
“Who on earth is arguing?”
[This is the Akashic Cabinet.]
“Ah.”
Everyone realized who it was.
[The Administrator has been kidnapped.]
With that message as the trigger, screams burst out like wildfire.
“Damn it!”
“This is bad!”
“Who the hell did it!”
“Bring them here at once!”
“Who was it!?”
[Due to the Administrator’s absence, I will operate the current forces in his stead.]
“Huh?”
[All units, please prepare for combat.]
[I will operate the smart factory in the Administrator’s stead.]
The demons brought to the castle suddenly turned stiff like dolls.
[Commencing emergency production of nuclear bombs.]
Namgung Jincheon embraced his granddaughter as she came running.
“Grandfather!”
Namgung Sohye glanced around, searching for the sister she could not see.
“Where’s Unnie?”
“……I’m sorry.”
Without saying anything more, he set the child down.
“Hong Ichan, please look after my granddaughter.”
“Pardon?”
“I need to enter seclusion for a while.”
Namgung Jincheon’s mind was filled entirely with thoughts of that lancer.
“I will return before it’s too late. Do not worry.”
Namgung Jincheon kept thinking of how powerless he had been, and of what the man had said.
‘You’re not human, yet you use a sword like one? Ha!’
He ground his teeth.
[Do you require assistance?]
The Akashic spoke to Namgung Jincheon first.
“Hoho, did you see through my heart?”
[Shall I provide information on the knight possessing dragon blood?]
“So you did see it.”
[There are almost no countermeasures.]
[In oral tradition and legend, one drenched in dragon blood is said to become invincible.]
“Tch.”
[Based on conjecture, this is judged to be a forced attainment of transcendence.]
Namgung Jincheon clicked his tongue.
“That damned transcendence—easy for you to say.”
The Akashic changed its terminology for his sake.
[You need only reach the Profound Realm. From that realm onward lies the boundary of transcendence.]
Namgung Jincheon gave a bitter smile.
“How nice that it’s simple. What is the fastest method?”
He had, at some point, adapted to the Akashic.
The fastest path, the easiest path—the Akashic already knew it.
[All nonhuman species instinctively grow or evolve through predation.]
“Yes. I am not human.”
Namgung Jincheon touched his transformed body.
“I keep forgetting. Thinking I am human.”
When he had been reborn by Sinhyeok’s hand, he had instinctively known, but he kept forgetting.
‘That I am not human.’
[To define you precisely, you are closer to a spirit.]
[I recommend spirit predation.]
“Yes. That sounds good.”
Namgung Jincheon turned back for a moment and looked at his granddaughter’s worried face.
“Sohye. I will be back shortly. And I will bring that young lady with me too.”
“Grandfather.”
After briefly stroking his granddaughter’s head, Namgung Jincheon headed outside.
“I won’t be late. Giant, I’ll see you soon!”
Namgung Jincheon called out to the giant, who seemed truly furious.
“Understood.”
Einri, his face filled with anger, knelt and looked at Hong Ichan.
“Uh, wh-why? Why?”
When the enormous face suddenly came close, Hong Ichan panicked.
“I need weapons and armor. I want to fight properly.”
Hong Ichan stammered in confusion.
“Th-that’s, I’m not an alchemist like Hyung.”
[I will provide them.]
The Akashic answered in his stead.
The giant checked the message that appeared before his eyes.
“I see something.”
[This is called the Akashic Cabinet.]
[This is originally a system provided by the Night World Tree, Notdrasil.]
[I had intended to incorporate you into the system last, but circumstances are urgent, so I will ask.]
[Will you awaken?]
Einri nodded.
“If it means I can save my friend.”
[Notdrasil’s blessing is bestowed upon you.]
[Status Window]
Name: Einri (LV.1)
Class: Martial Artist
Strength: 1000
Agility: 600
Stamina: 1200
Mana: 500
Resistance: 5000
Trait: Last Descendant of the Titan Race
[Owned Skills]
=================
[Main]
Power of Remnants (LV.1)
=================
Einri felt a sublime energy fill his body.
And beyond the system, he faced two beings.
An old fairy.
And a lofty being who managed the deep wellspring of knowledge.
A broad smile spread across the giant’s lips.
“A descendant pays respects to his ancestors.”
Einri knelt before the castle wall and paid his respects.
[This is why I wanted to add him later. Tch.]
[Be silent. Until the time comes, it is a secret.]
‘Yes.’
[Then you should prepare as well. If you want to fight with strength, you will have to eat your fill, won’t you?]
The Akashic made a request of Hong Ichan.
[Hong Ichan.]
Hong Ichan was flustered by the Akashic’s sudden voice.
“Yes? No, wait, you’re talking to me?”
[Einri requires assistance. Please help him.]
Einri reached his hand out to Hong Ichan.
“Whoa, what?!”
“I must fill my stomach. Giants are always hungry.”
Hong Ichan first raised a hand to stop Einri.
“Wait! Hyung left something behind.”
He immediately went to find the Potato of Predation.
“Here it is.”
A potato with wriggling sprouts came into view.
Ichan carefully picked up the potato.
“Good. Let’s go!”
‘Do not eat me.’
Einri reached his hand toward the potato.
And the Akashic silently proceeded with the remaining work.
[Uranium enrichment and refinement in progress]
[Nuclear bomb production in progress]
* * *
“Mister!”
Baek Arin shouted when she saw the direction she was being dragged in.
“Ah.”
It was already too late.
When she saw the awkward smile on the man’s face, she was genuinely pissed off.
“You told me to stay still!”
“Then should I have just let myself get beaten?”
“Kheup.”
Clang.
Before they knew it, they had come into contact with a metal band.
Wooooong.
The entire thing resonated and let Baek Arin and Sinhyeok pass right through its center.
“Damn it.”
They slipped inside.
Their feet did not touch the ground.
Everything floated in midair.
Baek Arin looked around.
“Should I be happy about this or not?”
For now, they had not died.
But they were unable to do anything.
When Sinhyeok remained quiet, she turned her head to check whether he was alive.
“Mister?”
Sinhyeok was busy looking around.
‘It’s a double structure.’
The outermost layer was formed of multiple circular metal bands overlapping one another.
When he shifted his gaze toward the center, a thin metal membrane encircled it, covering the center.
‘There’s something in there, and this entire structure seems to be a form of seal restraining it.’
Every moment, he keenly felt the absence of the Akashic, who always conveniently added explanations for him.
“Haa, Akashic, I miss you.”
Vwoong.
The outermost, layered metal orbit that had been still began to shine.
“Mister!”
Baek Arin shouted in alarm.
“Damn it.”
Energy was being drawn out from both their bodies.
The extracted energy flowed toward the layered metal orbit.
As it took on light, it began to move with a smooth, sliding motion.
—It’s starting again.
—Someone turn that thing off!
—Why don’t you just grind us down to the bone and drink us up?
—Hey, hey. A new battery’s here.
Voices chattered.
No, not voices.
The chatter of gods could be heard.
When he turned his head, he saw materialized origins.
—All right. Over here, you lot with still-fresh bodies.
Baek Arin and Sinhyeok focused on the origins that were having their light forcibly extracted.
—First time here, is it? Nice to meet you. We’re your seniors, so you two get drained first.
—That’s right. We’ve been drained so much our spines ache.
—If you came in late, hurry up and offer it.
Sinhyeok was dumbfounded, not even knowing what they were.
“What the hell.”
—Looking at you, you’ve got no blood in you. You’re about to disappear.
—Tsk, tsk. How’d you end up getting caught by that bastard?
He tried hard to ignore the nasty chatter of the gods fouling his ears.
‘My core.’
The mana heart—his core—embedded squarely in his chest was weakening.
The fragments of origin that had been drawn out were moving the layered metal orbit.
Wooooong.
Each time it moved, it emitted a strange sound and displayed an uncanny sight.
Whenever the vibration rang out, the surrounding fragments being pulled in slowed rapidly.
‘Every time it activates, the surrounding world is slowly drawn in.’
He could roughly guess its function.
‘Is it a device that limits the suction force?’
His gaze turned backward.
Something inside that metal sphere was pulling many worlds toward this place.
—Bloodlings, is it fascinating? Shall we explain it to you?
Sinhyeok and Baek Arin ignored them.
—Hoho, those brats are ignoring their elders.
—Look at how they treat old people. Youngsters these days.
—Fresh-faced little things pretending they can’t hear us.
“Mister. My ears hurt.”
Baek Arin frowned at the unending chatter of the petty gods.
“Ignore them. If you talk to them, they’ll run their mouths even worse.”
This time, Sinhyeok looked at the circular metal sphere in the center.
He saw that every energy spreading around them dispersed powerlessly the moment it touched the metal sphere.
‘The outer structure absorbs cores and limits the pulling force. That inner one blocks all energy.’
It was a place where two wondrous properties coexisted.
“No, seriously, what the hell is this place?”
—Hahahaha, shall we tell our juniors?
—We told you, come over here and ask!