It rained.

From the black clouds that covered the entire sky, rain darker than the clouds poured down.

The girl stared blankly up at the dark sky where the black rain was falling.

She had hated the rain for as long as she could remember.

When rain touched her body, it took away her warmth, and a body deprived of warmth consumed energy to maintain its temperature.

In simple terms, when it rained, her stomach would grow hungry faster than usual.

That was the reason the girl disliked the rain.

But that day.

Ever since the day she lost her most precious family to the world.

The girl began to hate the rain even more than before.

And today, it rained again.

Rain that reminded her of the day she lost what was most dear to her fell.

Standing in the pouring rain, the girl suddenly felt the raindrops flowing down her body to be unbearably cold.

In that chill, the girl slowly reached out her hands.

Hoping that someone would take her hand.

Wishing that the warmth of that hand would soothe the cold she was feeling.

As she reached out, the girl recalled the warmest memories of her life.

The kind teachers and the friendly villagers.

The grandparents who always cherished her, and her family whom she held most dear, Myung, with whom she was happy.

Recalling the warmth of that heaven-like world, the girl desperately reached out.

But in the hand that was stretched out, nothing was caught.

What she felt was only the chill of the raindrops flowing through her outstretched fingers.

In that empty chill, the girl blankly looked around.

Oh, what could have gone wrong.

Though the warmth still lingered vividly in her mind.

Where had that warm heaven gone?

What remained was hell, tainted black and devoid of a single soul.

Seeing that hell, the girl began to shake and weep like a madwoman.

Knowing that it was once the heaven she loved.

And knowing that it was none other than herself that had turned that heaven into such hell.

The girl howled as if trying to purge everything from her belly.

Yet, no matter how much she tried, the happiness she swallowed and erased with her own hands would never return.

Tears flowed from the girl’s eyes.

Tears as dark as the black rain falling in this hell.

And those tears that flowed down began to stain the girl black, ever so black.

What stained her was the cold, the emptiness, the pain, and the sense of loss.

To the girl, all of those things were hunger.

However, those who could fill that hunger had already gone inside her belly.

So, the girl would have to endure the agony of that unfulfilled hunger for the rest of her life.

In this way, the girl, feeling a more intense hunger than before, endlessly shed tears and muttered.

I am hungry, hungry.

Knowing that this way could not be filled, the girl, driven by a maddening hunger, devoured everything around her.

However, no matter how much she ate.

Even after consuming the last piece of that heaven that had turned into hell.

She was still hungry.

Hungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungry.

Having already swallowed a world, the girl began to move her steps.

To devour everything in another world.

Finally, it was the moment when the end was unleashed from its seal.

*

Some were preparing for battle, while others were mentally preparing themselves.

Everyone was spending days filled with tension, resembling the calm before a storm.

Then suddenly, a sound rang out as if glass was shattering from somewhere.

“…That sound…”

The moment I heard that sound, I felt chills run down my spine.

And at that moment, I instinctively realized.

“Cough! The Witch of Gluttony…!”

I understood that the sound was a prelude to the breaking of the seal that contained the Witch of Gluttony.

“Quickly, contact everyone! The Witch of Gluttony has been released from her seal…!”

As soon as I realized that, I reached for my emergency communication magical tool to inform others.

But it was unnecessary.

Before I could even touch the magical tool, it was already shining with a red light, indicating a priority emergency situation above all else.

On the magical tool glowing red was a short message hastily entered, but everyone who saw it must have understood its meaning.

[All forces, converge.]

That the time for battle had arrived.

*

Immediately after checking the message, I led the enraged demonic beasts I was guarding to the front lines of the southern boundary region where we were to gather.

Perhaps because of that, by the time I arrived, most of the heroes had already received contact and convened at the front lines.

However, despite being gathered in what could be called the current strength of humanity, there was a suffocating silence in the air.

And I soon realized the reason for that.

All those many people were silently gazing at a single point.

Beyond the boundary region, where everyone was looking.

There was a crack.

A fissure appeared in the very fabric of space, as if the air itself was cracking.

The source of the earlier shattering glass-like sound was that crack.

And with each sound of cracking, the fissure slowly widened.

“……”

I finally empathized with why the people gathered here were so silent.

It was due to fear.

Because the majority of the heroes gathered here had fought against the Witch of Gluttony before.

Having experienced the despair that came from the overwhelming difference in power.

Those who knew what kind of being was trying to cross over from beyond that crack could not help but feel the same fear they felt back then.

Truly, it was an engraved terror.

Even though they were all heroes with strong mental fortitude, the remnants of their unhidden fear could silence even those like Yoon Si-woo, who had never faced the Witch of Gluttony.

They were inadvertently shrinking back, entirely unaware of it.

But then, it happened.

“…Everyone seems awfully scared.”

Someone broke the silence and spoke.

It was Commander Martina Ivanova, who held the position of commander for this battle.

The people bit their lips and straightened their posture, thinking her words were a reprimand for their fear.

But Commander Martina, seeing them, only let out a bitter smile and muttered.

“Don’t worry about being scared. To be honest, I’m a bit scared too.”

She said that as if it was natural to be afraid and smiled wryly.

“It can’t be helped. After all, it’s as if we’ve all lost to that thing once. Had other commanders and Instructor Eve not risked their lives to stop it, we would have been dead that day.”

As Commander Martina spoke, everyone seemed to recall the day they fought the Witch of Gluttony and lowered their heads.

It was true.

Without the sacrifice of Instructor Eve and the two commanders, we would have essentially been defeated on that day.

At that moment, while everyone was thinking of the word “defeat,”

“…But does that mean we’ll lose to that thing again this time?”

Commander Martina asked the crowd with a serious expression.

“If we lose again like last time, then the sacrifice of those people will have been for nothing, dying to buy time for a bunch of cowards to tremble like fools. Is that what you want?”

Clenching her fists and with a fiery glint in her eyes, she shouted loudly.

“I ask you! Are you here to turn the sacrifice of those heroes into mere waste?!”

To Commander Martina’s question about whether they would waste the deaths of those who sacrificed for them, a fierce roar erupted from everywhere.

“No!”

Responding loudly, Commander Martina followed up with another question.

“I ask you! What are you fighting for with all the desperate preparations you’ve made until now? Was it to lose again meaningless like before?”

Those who had tirelessly prepared to take down the Witch of Gluttony screamed in unison.

“No!!!!”

And in response to the shouts of those heroes, Martina proclaimed,

“Yes, that’s right!!!”

Following in the footsteps of Eve, who had once been the commander and sacrificed for everyone, she took on the heavy responsibility of commander and shouted while facing the heroes.

“To ensure that the sacrifices are not wasted, we will survive today, and we will win to make our preparations worth it!!!”

With a roar, she stood at the forefront of the heroes, gazing straight ahead.

With a shattering sound that signified the breaking apart of the air, the severely cracked fissure in the air began to shatter into pieces.

Now, the heroes standing behind her were no longer trembling.

“All forces! Prepare for battle—!!!”

Finally, the fight that held the fate of this world began.