Employees in lab coats from Sehee Lab were guiding the rescued people.

"Please, move slowly this way!"

Sehee Lab was bustling with the sudden influx of people.

Leading the group were the Golden Reapers.

Thud. Thud.

The cute and confident steps of the Golden Reapers drew a procession of people behind them.

These were the people who had been imprisoned at Trinity Lab and had now been rescued.

Their words carried shocking revelations:

[Trinity Lab imprisoned people by force.]

[The researchers turned into monsters.]

[The Blue Reapers saved us.]

[The Gray Reaper sent us here.]

Hearing their accounts, we quickly realized this was no ordinary incident and contacted the Association and the police.

Once the rescued people arrived in the courtyard of Sehee Lab, many collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by relief, and burst into tears.

The Golden Reapers quickly rushed over to those in distress, gently wiping their tears and patting their cheeks comfortingly.

Of course, this was the adults' story.

The children, however, arrived at the unfamiliar Sehee Lab, delighted to play with the Golden Reapers in hand, laughing as they enjoyed the new environment.

Whenever the children raised their hands in excitement, the Golden Reapers mirrored them, lifting their hands and smiling brightly.

According to the children, while the Blue Reapers would flee when grabbed because it hurt, the Golden Reapers didn’t mind, making them all the more popular.

Well, the Golden Reapers are pretty sturdy, after all.

They look like they could survive being stepped on by an elephant, so kids’ grip strength is hardly a challenge...

"Sehee, the Agu has already breached the third defense line."

Yerin, unusually serious, pointed at the TV.

"Wouldn’t it be better to just clear its path? It doesn’t seem like anything but the Reapers can stop it..."

The emergency news on TV portrayed a scene that resembled war.

[The Agu is currently rampaging through the heart of Seoul. The third defense line has collapsed.]

The Agu was ignoring every human attempt to stop it, continuing its rampage.

Bombs exploded without leaving a scratch, and steel barricades were torn apart like paper.

The barricades provided by Trinity, advertised as <Agu-Class Physical Resistance>, proved utterly ineffective.

[The fourth defense line is being established, but it seems unlikely to hold.]

[Recently, there have been studies suggesting the Agu’s threat level should be downgraded, but its current rampage disproves all those findings.]

Just minutes before the Agu’s escape, there had been another major event.

The massive scar that tore through the sky.

It was already a significant enough event to raise alarms, but the more immediate and shocking Agu escape had overshadowed it.

That scar in the sky would likely come under scrutiny only after the Agu crisis was resolved.

[The Agu emerged from the Songpa-gu sinkhole and is moving westward.]

The news displayed a predicted path, much like a typhoon forecast, and Trinity Lab was directly in its way.

"Do you think the Agu’s destination is Trinity Lab? Maybe it’s running toward a rematch with the Reaper!" Yerin, ever the believer that the world revolved around the Reapers, once again proposed her theory.

As we sat in the chaotic courtyard, a staff member from Sehee Lab approached to report.

"Director, the Object Association has arrived at the front gate."

Hearing this, I made my way toward the entrance.

Ugh, just thinking about the trouble the Association will cause is already giving me a headache.

A woman covered in tattoos looked up at the sky, where the clouds had been split into five streaks.

Even she, who had experienced the "Grimoires" of ages past, had never seen anything like this.

The way this world dealt with Objects felt different, and it seemed like the flow of the world itself was somehow altered as well.

This world’s handling of Objects was lax.

So lax that lately, she sometimes wondered if that was the right way to go about it.

At least, it felt more like a place where people could live.

"Sister, what are we doing today?"

"Since we’ve gathered all the necessary materials, we’re going to make a guardian to protect us."

"A guardian?"

The younger sister tilted her head, intrigued by the unfamiliar term.

"Watch closely, we’re almost done."

The woman chuckled, patting her sister’s head.

She placed a multicolored stone, polished to a fine finish, onto the finely ground earth.

"This stone is the core of the guardian. If we had better materials and a skilled alchemist, the color would be more uniform, but this is the best I can do."

As she poured various alchemical reagents over the stone and soil, the stone began to emit a faint glow.

"Wow!"

The younger sister marveled at the sight.

The stone, as colorful as it was, now emitted a rainbow-like light.

The soil, touched by this light, gathered into a cute little form.

It was a strange, multicolored creature, about the size of a large dog.

It had short legs like a frog, a wide mouth, and a glowing lure on its head.

"This is the guardian, an eternal companion for alchemists. It’s a bit embarrassing compared to monochromatic or white guardians, but it’ll do."

"Sister, I feel like I’ve seen this before. What was it?" The younger sister mused, furrowing her brow as she tried to recall.

After thinking hard for a moment, she shrugged off her confusion. "Never mind!"

"The guardian will protect us now. As long as the stone remains intact."

The guardian, initially waddling awkwardly, soon grew accustomed and began joyfully running around Seoul Forest.

The woman crouched down and patted its head.

"Agu!"

Her sister suddenly shouted.

"No, not quite. It’s a little different. A mini-Agu without the tentacles?"

The woman gave her sister a perplexed look, unable to understand her strange comments.

I feel heavy.

Not physically, but emotionally weighed down.

At this moment, I was covered in both Blue and Golden Reapers.

They clung to my head, shoulders, and even nestled in my hair—Mini Reapers everywhere.

The Golden Reapers were smiling goofily, happily clinging to me.

The Blue Reapers, shouting <Mom, you’re warm!>, clung even tighter.

Since it was too risky to summon only the Blue Reapers, I had called for the Golden Reapers as bodyguards, and this was the result.

Well, all the dangerous people had already been sent to Sehee Lab, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to laze around a bit.

The Golden Reapers had gathered around the injured Blue Reaper, comforting it with tight hugs.

The Blue Reaper seemed to want to run away, pressing its hat down over its face, but the sunny expressions of the Golden Reapers kept it from escaping.

They didn’t seem to be the best match for each other.

I grabbed one of the Golden Reapers clinging to the Blue Reaper and held it up.

It wriggled in the air, trying to reach the Blue Reaper, but when it saw me, it gave a wide, goofy smile.

It was so happy that I felt like teasing it a little.

But unfortunately, there was no black slime around to mess with.

It’s a shame that the Golden Reapers don’t mind being tossed, so I simply placed it back on my shoulder.

As I lay on the ground, intending to relax and gaze up at the sky, I noticed that the clouds had been torn into five streaks.

It was the mark I had left.

I didn’t think I was capable of such a large-scale attack, but I must have done it in a fit of rage.

Now that I knew how, I could do it anytime, but the energy consumption was too high, so I didn’t plan to use it often.

While I was enjoying a brief moment of peace, the Golden Reapers started reacting like meerkats.

They stared intently in the direction of the lab.

Is something there?

The Golden Reapers' senses were far sharper than mine, so there must be something.

I stood up and began walking toward the lab.

Deep within Trinity Lab.

The director of the third lab awoke to the sound of blaring alarms.

Upon opening his eyes, he was greeted by nothing but darkness and the eerie glow of red emergency lights.

It seemed there was a problem with the power system, as only the emergency lights were spinning, casting a red glow.

[The procedure to release all Objects is currently underway.]

[All personnel remaining inside the lab should evacuate immediately.]

A loud, mechanical voice announced the start of the Object release procedure.

"Releasing the Objects? I don’t recall authorizing such a thing…"

The director rose from his bed.

Once standing, he checked his physical condition and smiled.

It was perfect.

The absorption was complete.

His body now brimmed with infinite power, and he felt an overwhelming confidence that no one could physically harm him.

"So, this is physical immunity. I never imagined such an ability could exist."

The sense of omnipotence filled him to the point that he muttered aloud.

With this power, he could tear apart not only the Gray Reaper but also the Agu with ease.

With a smile of eager anticipation, the director donned his lab coat and exited the recovery room.

As he walked, an ominous shadow lingered in his wake, a shadow that couldn’t be erased.

A shadow that consumed light itself, leaving an eternal mark behind.

And within that shadow, hideous tendrils writhed and squirmed.

The interior of Trinity Lab, where I arrived after following the Golden Reapers’ gazes, was a complete disaster.

Ruins, chaos, and shadows.

From the outside, the lab had seemed intact, but its interior was severely damaged, with what had once been pristine walls and floors now shattered, clearly showing signs of a violent struggle.

The ground was cloaked in a deep darkness, like a black hole that swallowed light.

Even when light was cast over it, the shadows, defying the laws of nature, persisted, devouring the light and spreading the darkness.

Out of that foreboding darkness, grotesque tendrils emerged.

The tendrils wriggled with malicious intent, snatching up the Objects that seemed to have been released from containment.

The tendrils pulled their captured prey into the abyss of shadows, consuming them whole.

The sound of bones and flesh being crushed and torn apart filled the air.

But even more repulsive than the sight was the stench.

There was an unprecedented level of malice toward humans emanating from those shadows.

The presence of the tendrils filled the entire lab, warping and distorting the space.

It was as if reality itself was straining to accommodate a being that shouldn’t exist.

An Agu-class Object!

Was Trinity Lab hiding an Agu-class Object all this time?

Sensing the presence of such a formidable foe after so long, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.