I was drifting leisurely through space. I intended to continue absorbing the realization I had just grasped.

To be honest, I don't currently have the power to kill the hero, Lee Jihoon.

Of course, his attacks wouldn't affect me either. Most of his assaults could be deflected by my scales, and if he used any special techniques, I could sense the signs and prepare in advance.

However, there was no sure way to kill him.

Simply overwhelming him with sheer force was impossible, and even the most dreadful poison Jörmungandr possessed couldn't kill him.

Thus, for the first time, I faced a dilemma.

[...How can I win?]

I had been complacent. I hadn't prepared any specific attack methods.

I had only executed simple attacks that a snake’s body could manage. I hadn't prepared for an enemy who could withstand my raw physical power, divine energy, or overwhelming force.

It was understandable. Up until now, what I had possessed was more than sufficient.

Most beings died simply from me releasing my force, and I never needed to engage in direct combat.

Even those who managed to survive such encounters would have been helpless against attacks that warped space.

But Lee Jihoon was different.

In the worst situations, he made the best decisions, and through countless attempts, he gradually deciphered and countered my attacks.

This led to the current result—a state where neither of us could kill the other.

It was then that I began to deeply ponder.

[……?!]

I couldn’t even comprehend what had happened. I was in another dimension, yet it felt as though a crack had formed in this world.

A crack so vast that it seemed to split this enormous world diagonally in two.

And within that crack... even I was included.

——Crack.

The world was split in half. My vision twisted, and I felt my entire body being cleaved in two, accompanied by an overwhelming pain.

[……!!]

No sound came out.

It was the first time. The first time I had been so helplessly slashed across my entire body.

At the same time, I was bewildered. The Sword Hero, Lee Jihoon, shouldn’t have been capable of such an attack.

Beyond the distorted crack, I saw Lee Jihoon, who was looking at me with a smile of triumph, holding his sword high.

Our eyes met. But at the same time, it felt like they didn’t.

It was as if we were looking in different directions. His gaze moved rapidly, as though he were looking into a distant future.

I twisted my body. Jörmungandr wouldn’t die just because he was split in two.

As I was about to regenerate my body,

"I anticipated this."

——Clang!

Once again, a slash tore through Jörmungandr’s body.

I couldn’t even resist. His skill had reached a realm beyond what I could withstand. The height of our perspectives was now different.

Death.

For the first time, I felt death.

Instinctively, my body moved to survive. The finesse that I couldn’t achieve before now felt incredibly clear.

I stared intensely at the space where Lee Jihoon stood beyond the distorted vision.

The space twisted. Like a small black hole forming, an overwhelming gravity pulled him in from the distorted space.

But... it didn’t work.

Lee Jihoon had already leaped away the moment the invisible attack unfolded.

It should have been an attack capable of swallowing even light.

Yet, the Sword Hero was unharmed.

No, it wasn’t that he was unharmed. Even at this moment, he was still swinging his sword.

It was just that his strikes were so fast that they weren’t even visible to my eyes. He was endlessly slicing through space, creating new space beyond the influence of gravity.

And at the same time...

"Die."

His gaze fully turned towards Jörmungandr for the first time.

In those vivid red eyes, Jörmungandr was no longer a mighty being.

Only a small, feeble snake was reflected.

[…….]

The Sword Hero raised his sword.

Every moment unfolded as if in slow motion.

The sword was slowly lifted.

And then slowly brought down.

As it descended halfway, even in the slowed world, his sword slashed so fast that it couldn’t be perceived.

Countless slashes.

It was as if endless lines were being drawn to create a surface.

The moment Jörmungandr faced that attack, he instinctively knew.

If he took that blow,

He would die.

Spatial Slash.

The Sixth Form.

——Death Sentence.

The final technique was unleashed.

Jörmungandr realized it would be his last.

He stopped struggling.

That attack couldn’t be avoided simply by dodging it physically.

And so, as the Hero softly murmured,

"...For a happy ending."

——Slash.

The great serpent was torn into countless tiny pieces and vanished.

Who... am I?

My mind was hazy.

Endless darkness engulfed me.

Then, I remembered the Sword Hero's final technique aimed at me.

So, am I dead?

I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

Even the last nerve that would move my body was completely gone, leaving me unable to move.

It was empty.

At the same time, anger surged within me.

It wasn’t anger toward the Hero.

I was furious with myself for not pursuing my own strength, despite possessing such incredible talent.

Why didn’t I prepare?

Because it seemed pointless.

Because I believed there was no opponent stronger than me.

And what was the result?

I had met a tragic end at the hands of the Sword Hero and another version of myself.

Slowly, I closed my eyes.

And then...

[…….]

I thought of those I was connected to.

Eliserde, Asgard, Lehilis, Belial.

Their faces came to mind.

What would they think of me?

Perhaps they were just passing acquaintances.

But surely, they must have thought of me as well.

The overwhelming god who triumphs in every situation.

It was laughable.

That god had met his end at the hands of another version of himself.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

But even that laugh dissipated into the transparent space.

My consciousness was growing fainter.

Am I going to die like this?

If this dimming consciousness fades completely into darkness, then... will I be dead?

No... that can't...

...be... it...

...ending... so...

...meaninglessly...

'That won't do.'

Give up?

That doesn’t suit me.

My consciousness hasn’t fully faded.

If that’s the case, then there’s still hope.

I haven’t met my final death.

Even if I have truly died and this is the afterlife, it doesn’t matter.

As long as my consciousness exists, as long as the entity known as Jörmungandr still exists in this world,

That one fact alone gives me thousands of reasons not to give up.

Move.

I can’t feel anything.

But my mind is still searching for a way to survive even now.

'It’s impossible.'

The fragments of my body...

They were scattered so finely across the world.

Even a godlike being couldn’t reassemble them from such a vast number of pieces.

And above all,

The countless sword wounds left on those fragments prevented the cells from dividing and regenerating.

To come back to life,

At the very least, I would need an immense amount of time until those sword scars faded.

How long would it take?

Thousands, tens of thousands of years?

Maybe even after an eternity, the scars might not disappear.

Then what should I do?

Even if the scars from that sword disappeared, by then it would be too late.

By then, the world would have perished at the hands of the Demon God.

By then, my precious connections...

Would have met their end.

What meaning would it have then?

Live.

Survive.

Endure, no matter what.

Cling to consciousness, revive even in a hideous and dreadful form.

Revive.

And protect this world once again.

Fight back.

Kill the enemy.

Protect those dear to me, my precious connections!

It was a complacent thought.

Why do I need a physical body?

'I am... a god.'

The god I envision,

Was it merely a being that relied on a physical body?

Was it a weak existence that could only live in this world with a body?

No.

A god no longer has the need for a body.

If that’s the case,

Create it anew.

From nothing to something.

Construct my new body.

I don’t need the fragments of my body.

My strong will to live—that will be my body...

——Thump.

———Thump, thump...

I finally understood.

The place where I am now, it wasn’t just a void of nothingness.

It was simply...

[...a new shell that is enveloping me.]

"...I did it."

Lee Jihoon stared blankly into the void.

There was nothing left where Jörmungandr had been, not even a trace of his fragments.

Lee Jihoon sheathed his sword.

"I have proven myself."

The Demon God.

I don’t know if I can kill him.

But it doesn’t matter.

As long as I can protect my precious lover, that’s all that matters.

As he turned around to leave,

———Thump!

"……!!"

Lee Jihoon felt it.

This vast space, no—

The heartbeat that resonated throughout every world.