As the massive wall of green jade appeared behind the harmful object, the world itself began to distort.

Sensing this distortion, the Golden Reaper intensified his flame.

‘Humans are in danger!’

The distortion wasn’t just maddening; it twisted humanity into something unrecognizable. It made people believe their own thoughts were the ultimate truth, warping their actions to destroy their own goals, ultimately leading them to self-destruction.

This distortion was the source of all that should never exist in the world, not even for a second.

The Golden Reaper, who wished only for humans to live with joy and positivity, could never allow this corruption to continue.

This same distortion had been present in every harmful object he had ever deemed dangerous.

And the distortion seeping from that jade wall was slowly pervading the earth, changing the world.

A mental corruption strong enough to reshape the world, too powerful for the Golden Reaper’s flame alone.

If this continued, it would become a world where it was normal for a beloved human to strike a Mini Reaper or steal their pudding!

The horrifying scenes flashed through the minds of all the Mini Reapers as they stared at the jade wall.

A world where humans stomped on the pudding Mini Reapers tried to eat.

A world where beloved humans abused and beat the Mini Reapers.

A world where humans became so cruel that even Mother felt kind in comparison.

The scenes were so sorrowful that tears formed in the Golden Reaper’s eyes.

‘No!’

All the Mini Reapers rushed forward.

Their targets were the harmful object, the green jade humanoid, and the enormous jade wall!

The Mini Reapers were certain of victory.

After all, they had the Golden Reaper, the Black Reaper, and every kind of Mini Reaper together.

But their charge, filled with dreams and hopes, was stopped almost instantly.

“Return to your true form, puppet of false alchemy.”

The moment the green jade humanoid’s unintelligible words reached the Golden Reaper, the Mini Reapers began to fall.

The first to stop moving were the Golden Reapers, the ones most similar to the Gray Reaper.

Their limbs, once powered by his flame, began to stiffen as if turning to stone.

Like a curse that turned people to stone, the Golden Reapers’ bodies started transforming into a completely different substance.

‘?’

As the Golden Reaper, who had fallen to the ground, looked down at his own hand, he saw his skin changing from its sun-like gold to a gray like Mother’s.

‘Ah, I’m turning the same color as Mother.’

A smile briefly crossed his face, thinking he was becoming more like her. But it didn’t last long.

Surely this would affect Mother too!

‘Will Mother be okay?’

Struggling to turn his stiffening head, the Golden Reaper gazed at her with a worried expression as he became a stone statue.

“Return to your true form, puppet of false alchemy.”

As the green jade humanoid’s voice echoed, the Golden Reaper could feel his flame flickering out.

Opening his palm, he saw his skin hardening, starting from his fingertips, where his flame barely touched anymore.

His once supple skin was hardening, transforming into a metal-like substance, as if he were becoming a lead puppet.

It was truly alchemy.

The way his flesh transformed into metal felt like something only alchemy could accomplish.

But it wasn’t a problem.

The immense power of his flame could animate even the driest wood, keeping him moving.

As he confirmed his ability to move, he saw numerous Mini Reapers sprawled across the ground.

The Mini Reapers, now all lead gray, looked like figurines with peeling paint.

The Ogre and Ogre Reaper hadn’t turned to lead but rather to white, crumbly stone, like steamed rice cakes.

They resembled the fleeing statues often depicted in stories about Medusa, though not frozen in fear.

All the Mini Reapers had exerted their last bit of strength to turn their heads toward him, as if it were vitally important.

Beeeeep!

Only the Black Reapers, unaffected by the transformation, hurriedly moved the leaden Mini Reapers closer to him.

Seeing the Mini Reapers gathered around, all with worried expressions, a strange heat rose within him.

I’m the only one who can bother these kids!

You’re not getting off easy.

As I began walking forward, the green jade humanoid smirked knowingly and spoke.

“Oh, so you can move like that? Well then…”

The green jade humanoid was about to say more, but I found it annoying. I extended a hand and grabbed at the air with a snap.

Crack.

Space twisted, and part of the jade humanoid’s body was torn away and disappeared.

“Gah!”

The jade humanoid quickly regenerated, indicating it was more complex to destroy than I had thought.

Oops, I attacked out of anger.

I can’t let the one who hurt the kids die so easily.

The green jade humanoid’s weakness was “connection severance”, as revealed by my Eyes.

Good.

As long as I didn’t isolate it with spatial control, it seemed it would keep regenerating.

Sensing the spatial interference, the green jade humanoid tried to dodge but couldn’t move.

It was as if someone had ripped space itself with brute strength, with astonishing speed.

“Gah!”

The jade humanoid let out a groan, feeling as if a part of its soul had been torn away.

How dare it.

How dare it!

Its jade body, crafted with countless sacrifices and souls, was the pinnacle of alchemy, and yet so much of it was being destroyed!

With that one spatial attack, it felt as if he had lost a hundred years of time.

“Ha… haha… Of course, something once called a god wouldn’t be that easy to destroy.”

The ‘god’ it once knew was passive, incapable of action.

But the figure before it seemed different, actively thinking and moving on its own.

An incomprehensible sight.

Could a natural phenomenon have its own will?

The thought crept into the jade humanoid’s mind.

A fake god, moving and thinking like a human.

Could a human have consumed a false god whole?

A human with the power of a god.

The thought was terrifying, but he quickly dismissed it.

Impossible.

The soul would be torn apart.

Or the person would go completely mad.

Maybe something else was making it seem that way?

Thinking along these lines, he remembered the lead puppet forming the body of this false god.

Finally, he found a logical explanation for the baffling situation.

“Ha, almost fooled me. So it’s just fake alchemy giving direction to phenomena.”

The jade humanoid chuckled, reassured.

With false alchemy, the solution was simple.

“Return to your true form, lead puppet.”

The jade humanoid poured more power into his command, unleashing a wave that should nullify any fake alchemy tainting his surroundings.

Thump. Thump.

But the lead puppet didn’t seem affected, continuing to walk toward him.

“Return to your true form.” “Return to your true form!” “Return to your true form!!”

The jade humanoid’s voice grew louder with each attempt.

Thump. Thump.

But the puppet kept approaching, undeterred.

“In that case!”

The jade humanoid prepared another method to subdue the god.

The green jade wall behind him, once like a folding screen, gathered into a massive orb.

Energy began to amass within the orb, emitting a dangerous light.

The power of a fake god came from humans.

His plan was simple: destroy all the humans nearby to neutralize the puppet.

The lead puppet’s expression shifted slightly, as if sensing the orb’s deadly energy.

The power was enough to destroy an entire kingdom, perhaps even a large portion of Seoul if he detonated it here.

“This is the end!”

Flash.

As he shouted, an explosion burst forth, and white flames rained down from the sky like a firework display.

Across Seoul and even all of Korea, the flames fell like snow, yet the anticipated blast did not come.

“What… why?”

The jade humanoid looked on, bewildered, as the blackened lead puppet stared right back.