Late at night, in Seodaemun-gu.

Finally, even the last few people who had stubbornly remained in Seodaemun-gu began to leave the city.

They had resisted evacuating even after patients from major hospitals had been moved, but when the Golden Reapers intervened, they quickly changed their minds.

“It's dangerous here!”

“Humans, run away!”

Some scolded with angry slaps on the cheek, others tugged at people's cheeks with sad expressions, some clung to the hems of their pants and were dragged along, and others made cute, pleading faces to beg them to leave.

Everyone eventually gave in to the Golden Reapers' adorable persuasion.

With that, Seodaemun-gu fell into a silence resembling a ghost town, yet there was still no trace of the kindling-infused Golden Reaper.

‘Where on earth could they be?’

If I was feeling this worried about seeing the missing Golden Reaper, they must be in danger….

Just then, a streak of golden light burst through the pitch-black night sky.

A golden comet-like beam of light.

It started as a tiny flame, as small as a Mini Reaper, but it spread explosively, enveloping all of Seodaemun-gu in a golden wave.

Shadows on the streets danced, as if moving to music, and everything seemed outlined in a golden glow.

At the center of that sun-like light was a small chunk of kindling—a small, fist-shaped kindling of the Golden Reaper.

And as that radiant sun appeared, I felt the presence of the missing Golden Reaper.

‘There you are!’

A small crack shaped like a Golden Reaper's fist.

Although the crack vanished almost instantly, knowing its location once was enough.

I stuffed my hands full of kindling and tore through space.

Like scratching with the fury of anger, wildly and recklessly.

Crack.

With a sound like glass shattering, a suspicious space revealed itself.

A twisted realm where desires flowed in a swirling vortex.

In one corner lay a bob-haired girl, collapsed.

And finally, there was the Golden Cloaked Reaper, who had fallen just as they’d raised their fist one last time.

That kindling-rich girl must be the Golden Cloaked Reaper’s beloved human.

I leaped toward the Golden Reaper.

As they looked up at me, the Golden Cloaked Reaper smiled weakly.

Landing beside them, I tore apart the space that had imprisoned them and held the Golden Reaper in my arms.

“Rest easy. Mom’s here now.”

With that, I began to infuse them with kindling.

I gave them more kindling.

And more kindling.

And even more kindling.

‘???’

It was like they needed a hundred times the usual amount of kindling….

As they filled up, the Golden Cloaked Reaper revived, looking up at me and giving a small smile.

After patting their head, I placed them atop my own and sent the unconscious girl back to the Mini Reaper Garden.

“All set to fight!”

When I turned to face the kidnapper, the man with the halo stared at me with an unreadable expression.

There was hatred in his gaze, but also a hint of longing.

[It’s already too late, byproduct.]

As he spoke, his lips quivering, the space around us began to crack.

Decayed, rotting hands emerged from the rift in the space, twisted and corrupted by desire.

They stretched out toward him, desperately clawing to grab him, determined not to let go as they wrapped around his body.

The man only watched as the hands dug into him.

Even as his flesh merged with the hands, melting, his face looked entranced.

[Finally… the great endeavor is complete!]

His voice, filled with elation, echoed, signaling the completion of his transformation.

What stood there was no longer human.

Countless hands burst forth from his flesh, forming a monstrous, grotesque figure, faintly reminiscent of the “Old Gods” once bound to the earth.

Late at night, in Sehee Lab.

Yerin was hiding in the isolation room, intending to sleep after playing with the Gray Reaper for the first time in a while.

But since the Gray Reaper hadn’t arrived, she sat there with a sad expression, munching on cookies from the isolation room while watching TV.

“I even prepared reaper pajamas….”

Not that it would have worn them, but she always prepared outfits for their isolation room pajama parties.

Furthermore, something must have happened to the Gray Reaper, as the usual crowd of Mini Reapers in the isolation room was nearly gone.

Only the black reapers, patrolling with serious expressions, and a few golden reapers, who were dozing on the bed, remained.

The golden reapers on the bed clutched long spears in their arms, indicating they were on high alert.

Seeing a golden reaper yawn widely, Yerin couldn’t resist putting her fingertip into its mouth.

‘Oh!’

The golden reaper, whose eyes had been drooping with drowsiness, bit her finger lightly and snapped awake in shock.

‘Did I bite you!’

‘Did it hurt?’

The golden reaper looked up at Yerin with a worried expression, licking her fingertip.

Yerin smiled contentedly, looking at the reaper.

“It didn’t hurt at all; you’re so soft and squishy.”

Saying that, she playfully tugged on the golden reaper’s chubby, squishy cheeks.

Yaaawn.

The other golden reapers, trying not to fall asleep, yawned in turn.

One golden reaper tried to do a handstand to stay awake, but ended up tumbling over and rolling around.

Another pair, sparring with their spears to stave off sleep, accidentally knocked heads as they nodded off.

Watching the golden reapers struggle against drowsiness, Yerin thought they looked more professional than Sehee herself.

[Breaking news.]

[Object phenomenon detected in Seodaemun-gu.]

The words flashed across the screen, and the TV screen abruptly changed.

The broadcast showed buildings collapsing one by one against a dark, ominous night sky.

In the center of the screen, a gray figure rolled across the ground.

“!”

Yerin gasped, while the golden reapers, looking up at the screen, wore blank expressions.

‘It’s been a while!’

‘She’s calling us.’

‘Do you need help?’

They slowly walked over to Yerin, clinging to her with blank expressions.

In the twisted space, resembling an antlion’s den that devoured desires.

I aimed a “Kwek” attack at the grotesque man with the halo.

The space crumpled, revealing a black sphere that began to pull everything in.

[It’s useless.]

With a shout, the man’s halo glowed brilliantly, erasing the black sphere without a trace.

‘!!!’

How annoying.

Could that halo possibly manipulate space?

The man, bathed in the light of his dazzling halo, began speaking as if in a trance.

[I have finally attained the power of a “god.”]

[The ancient dream of the alchemists has been fulfilled by my own hand!]

He looked like a fanatic.

A god, huh?

I wasn’t entirely convinced.

He was definitely stronger than the Maw Reaper or the spider, but whether he was at the level of an Outer God was uncertain.

The condition for his destruction, <Destroy the core of his ■>, wasn’t fully visible to my “Eye.”

Though he might not be on par with the black giant or the red Outer God, it was safe to assume he was close.

Well, he did resemble the “Old God” more than anything.

An Old God trapped, unable to take flight, shackled by desire.

The man, now exuding a bizarre joy, looked down at me and spoke.

[And by eliminating the traces of her defiance against the gods, I shall reclaim “that title”!]

Becoming increasingly agitated, he clapped his hands, releasing a powerful shockwave.

A shockwave that compressed space, shattering the grid-patterned realm.

I was hurled out of the fragmented space, tumbling back into reality, rolling across the empty city.

The abandoned city, with buildings collapsing in the shockwave’s wake.

Drones filming from afar.

Multicolored moonlight and four halos adorning the sky.

‘Idiot.’

Instead of keeping me trapped, he pushed me back to Earth.

Hehe.

As I stopped tumbling, the man’s form gradually appeared through the space rift.

As his root-like legs touched the Earth, the twisted hands surrounding him extended down toward the ground.

Strangely, as soon as those hands made contact with the ground, they took root as if they’d always belonged there.

And as they rooted, the decayed hands began to grow larger and larger.

‘Oh?’

Just like the roots of an Old God.

Simultaneously, the man’s form and stature began to swell.

I summoned a nullifying halo above my head as I faced the now massive Outer God-sized man.

White flames clung to his body in response.

Seeing this, I packed my right hand with kindling and ripped apart the space around him.

Five streaks of scarring extended from the sky to the man himself.

But they didn’t reach him.

‘Why?’

On closer inspection, I saw a thin spatial barrier covering his skin, blocking both the white flames and spatial rupture.

The man, smug as if he’d expected this, began to speak.

[Mastering space is a mark of divinity.]

[As the purple moon wielding space was supreme, the fragment of a god controlling space is the pinnacle among all fragments.]

As he swung his elongated black giant-like arm, countless black spheres began to appear around him.

Hundreds, thousands of black spheres, grinding everything down.

My body was reduced to dust but instantly regenerated using kindling.

Yet his attacks didn’t stop.

With the halo powered by twisted desires, space itself started warping.

A kaleidoscope-like distortion bent and twisted the world.

Each time I touched the warped space, my body was sliced into tiny pieces.

I switched to an absolute evasion halo and tore through the twisted space with “Kwek.”

[You’re using petty tricks.]

Just as I tried to rip through the distorted kaleidoscope, his words echoed, flipping the space, redirecting my spatial tears back toward me.

But the redirected attack was twisted and deflected by my evasion halo, missing me entirely.

Simultaneously, the distorted space reverted, and his voice echoed again.

[Impressive. You truly followed through with that absurd plan to get this far.]

His voice held a mix of admiration and nostalgia.

Ignoring his words, I assessed my own state.

The kindling reserve was still full.

And what options did I have?

The first was to summon the Blue Idol Reaper for a double halo.

The second was to call the Maw Reaper for another double halo.

The third was to bring out the Mini Reapers, led by the mighty and impressive Tyranno.

The fourth was to summon the Blue Sphere and battle in Blue Giant mode.

The fifth was to call upon the Immutable Sphere, unleashing the true power of the Old God.

And finally, the last option—summoning Yerin to unleash the power of infinite kindling.

But realistically, there were few choices.

The first three wouldn’t be able to overcome the space-warped halo, strengthened by a massive flow of desire.

The fourth and fifth would guarantee victory, but I hesitated for some reason.

I didn’t like relying on the giants.

Especially the black giant.

And summoning Yerin seemed too risky, reserved only as a final option.

‘….’

Ugh, thinking is exhausting.

Maybe I should just call the black giant.

At that moment, a golden aurora began to appear in the sky.

It was a ludicrously vast flow of kindling.

Just like the sticky desires flowing from the man’s rooted form, an immense amount of kindling was flowing from the Mini Reaper network in the sky.

And at the center of this flow was a single Golden Reaper.

Standing atop the only remaining high-rise building, with one hand raised.

It was the Golden-Horned Reaper, with adorable horns poking out.