James Tower, standing tall on the outskirts of Songpa District.

In the luxurious restaurant there, staff members from the James Institute were enjoying a late breakfast.

Their faces showed deep fatigue, but there were smiles of accomplishment on their faces.

"We’ve finally put together the news from Texas."

One staff member said as he placed his coffee cup down.

"It was so exhausting."

Another staff member yawned, agreeing.

Dark circles hung beneath their eyes, and some of them clearly bore the marks of an all-nighter.

At that moment, the head of the Gray Grim Reaper Special Response Team, watching them from a distance, stood up and drew their attention.

"Everyone."

With a warm smile, he spoke.

"Although the Object left almost no trace, making the news hard to gather, we somehow managed to piece it together and bring it to a comprehensible level."

The team leader looked each person in the eye as he continued.

"Everyone did really well."

At his words, the team members looked at each other, clapped, and smiled brightly.

Even the Mini Grim Reapers, who had been nibbling on cookies nearby, were caught up in the atmosphere and began clapping their tiny hands.

'Human!'

'Now we can play together!'

The Mini Grim Reapers seemed excited about the idea of play, their eyes sparkling with happiness.

At that moment, a Golden Grim Reaper was quietly moving across the table.

While everyone was immersed in conversation, the Golden Grim Reaper gently nudged the chopstick rest of its beloved human aside.

It then covered itself with a napkin, pretending to be a chopstick rest, and settled in.

A moment later, one of the staff members, oblivious, placed the chopsticks on top of the napkin.

The Golden Grim Reaper peeked up from beneath the napkin, glancing at its beloved human, and exuded a joyful spirit.

"Hehe, fooled you."

But the staff member had already noticed the Golden Grim Reaper's trick.

Pretending not to notice, he continued eating, but then prodded the Golden Grim Reaper hidden under the napkin with his chopsticks.

"Ah, I’ve been caught!"

The Golden Grim Reaper laughed while holding onto the chopsticks.

The other staff members continued playing with the beloved Grim Reaper, enjoying their late breakfast.

They shared pudding with the Mini Grim Reapers for dessert, or laughed as the Golden Grim Reaper tried to stop them from putting sugar cubes into a spicy dish the human was eating, believing it was poison.

The Golden Grim Reaper even secretly snatched a cookie from the plate, or scared the Mini Grim Reapers by pretending to eat them with chopsticks.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was warm and cheerful, and everyone began to forget their work stress for a while, enjoying their time together.

Then, the team leader's phone rang.

The sound was ominous.

The laughter that had filled the restaurant moments ago was replaced with silence.

"Could it be… is there a problem?"

One staff member muttered, his face full of worry.

'No…'

The Mini Grim Reapers also wiped the happiness from their faces and grew tense.

"Although the broadcast hasn’t started yet, it’s been confirmed that the Gray Grim Reaper has moved to Texas."

At that moment, the Mini Grim Reapers, sensing the somber mood, slumped over the table.

They looked as if they had lost their country.

But the team leader, ignoring the slumped Mini Grim Reapers, continued speaking.

"Unfortunately, from this point, we are on special standby."

With that, the staff slowly began to leave the restaurant, each of them carrying a Mini Grim Reaper in their arms.

At the heart of the Mini Grim Reaper garden, stood the grand Colosseum.

A fierce battle between the Golden Grim Reaper’s First Sword and the Black Hooded Grim Reaper was taking place.

I sat in the stands, holding popcorn, silently watching the fight.

The First Sword slashed through the air with sharp blows, delivering lightning-fast strikes.

The trails of light slicing through the space flew toward the Hooded Grim Reaper.

The Hooded Grim Reaper, trained in real combat, moved unpredictably, but could do nothing to defend against the First Sword’s strikes.

However, the Hooded Grim Reaper, who had withstood even the power of the Halo through sheer durability, held its ground and aggressively charged forward.

On the other hand, the Hooded Grim Reaper’s attacks posed a significant threat to the First Sword.

The clawing strikes, honed to kill foreign entities, could tear through even the physically immune Butterflies with ease.

If even a single attack hit, it would be fatal for the Golden Grim Reaper, who lacked special defensive abilities.

But, no matter how powerful the attack, if it didn’t land, it was useless.

The Golden Grim Reaper’s First Sword lightly evaded the Hooded Grim Reaper’s claws with graceful, almost dance-like movements, making it seem like a well-choreographed wrestling match.

Despite both Mini Grim Reapers being evenly matched, the battle seemed overwhelmingly in favor of the First Sword.

Without allowing a single hit to land, the First Sword relentlessly pressed forward, pushing the Hooded Grim Reaper back.

But the situation was not so simple.

The Hooded Grim Reaper persisted and its single blow could turn the tide of the battle.

Would the Hooded Grim Reaper exhaust its energy first, or would it land a critical blow on the First Sword?

The match became more and more exciting, and I became so engrossed that I forgot about my popcorn.

How much time had passed while I was completely absorbed in the fight?

Bang!

A sudden shockwave shook the arena.

A massive burst of energy emanated from the First Sword’s swing, causing both Grim Reapers to fall back, creating a large gap between them.

'?'

The Hooded Grim Reaper tilted its head, looking at the First Sword.

Its expression was filled with the question, ‘Why did it do that?’

Just moments ago, the First Sword had made a reckless attack to break free from the Hooded Grim Reaper’s grasp, causing a chunk of energy from the First Sword to vanish.

However, strangely, the First Sword was not looking at the Hooded Grim Reaper.

It was simply staring blankly at the sky.

The Hooded Grim Reaper slowly turned its gaze upward.

Other Mini Grim Reapers in the stands also began to lift their heads to look at the sky.

'What is this? Why are they doing this?'

Breaking my concentration, I glanced around in confusion.

The Colosseum, once filled with excitement, suddenly fell into silence, and all the children’s gazes were fixed on the sky.

I, still chewing on my popcorn, waited for the match to resume.

At that moment, the First Sword and the Hooded Grim Reaper, along with all the Mini Grim Reapers, suddenly began charging toward me.

'Mom! Something’s wrong!'

'It’s a disaster!'

'We need to hurry!'

The children, with urgent expressions, rushed toward me.

Was something happening?

I stared at them, still bewildered.

It wasn’t until then that I began to hear the children's voices from afar.

'Mom, a traitor has appeared.'

'No!'

'Momma!'

I had been so engrossed in the match that I had missed the signals the children were sending.

Startled, I immediately teleported with the Mini Grim Reapers to the place they were calling me to.

What I found there was far more chaotic than I could have imagined.

'????'

The scene before me was nothing short of shocking.

The Golden Grim Reapers, usually cheerful and playful, now looked panicked and confused.

At the center of this chaos stood a Golden Grim Reaper.

It was unmistakably a Golden Grim Reaper, but it was unlike any I had seen before.

Its face was filled with madness, as if it had been overtaken by another entity.

This strange Golden Grim Reaper was mercilessly attacking the other Golden Grim Reapers.

Its methods were even more shocking.

Using a technique called ‘stacking’—something Golden Grim Reapers never used—it attacked the others.

Looking around, I saw the Golden Grim Reapers who had been attacked, lying scattered with parts of their bodies missing.

From the wounded Golden Grim Reapers, what seemed like blood—their fuel—was constantly leaking out.

'!'

I gritted my teeth at the sight.

And, to help the fallen children, I began pushing the fuel into their bodies.

Junior 2nd gasped when the woman appeared before her.

The face was so familiar.

It was the same as Yerin from Sehee Research Institute.

But there was one decisive difference.

One of the saint’s eyes appeared to be shattered like glass.

"That face...?"

Junior 2nd barely held back her surprise.

A mix of confusion and anxiety swirled within her.

An individual with a shattered eye like glass—this was definitely not normal.

This 'saint' must also be an Object.

The woman, called the saint, smiled gently at Junior 2nd.

[It’s a bit awkward to talk here, so please come inside.]

Although the saint’s voice couldn’t be heard, the meaning was conveyed clearly to Junior 2nd’s mind.

Junior 2nd cautiously followed the saint.

The path they walked was strange.

People, wrapped in black cloths, were walking around, but they didn’t seem to notice Junior 2nd or the saint.

It felt like walking through a video replay of a specific moment.

They reached a secluded, empty room.

The saint sat down gracefully, and Junior 2nd followed suit.

[I'm sorry, I can't even offer you a drink.]

The saint apologized, explaining that everything in this place was an illusion, so there was nothing she could do.

Junior 2nd nodded.

Though everything about the situation felt unreal, she made an effort to remain calm.

[Can I see the contract?]

The saint’s voice echoed again in her mind.

Junior 2nd hesitated for only a moment before pulling out the contract and showing it.

The saint examined it carefully and then smiled softly.

[That's right. The agent of the Man of the Lamp. Hyejin.]

Her eyes deepened.

[I have a favor to ask.]

The saint took a picture from a drawer and showed it to Junior 2nd.

It was a jade tablet made of green jade.

[This was the most important sacred object of our ‘Cult.’]

The jade tablet in the picture seemed to glow with a mysterious light, and its surface was covered with unknown symbols.

[But we lost it some time ago. Now it is said to be in a place we can no longer reach.]

The saint paused, staring into Junior 2nd’s eyes.

[My first wish is for you to retrieve this jade tablet.]

However, as she made her request, the saint didn’t seem particularly interested in the sacred object.

[Can you do that, Hyejin?]