Each time the regressor's battle cry echoed, the Golden Palace trembled. Homunculi launched their attacks, bombarding the structure as they tried to breach the golden core, only to be swallowed by surging darkness the moment they crossed its threshold. Meanwhile, the golden core relentlessly scraped the ground, pressing against the Golden Palace as if attempting to topple the fortress.

Perhaps mythic battles always happen so unexpectedly. Like now—when what started as a peace negotiation had devolved into a full-blown conflict.

I had no real desire to get involved, but the meeting between the Golden Mirror and the Verdant Overseer piqued my interest.

“Hilde. Let’s go.”
“To there? Uh, um, Father. Do we really have to?”
“Yes, absolutely.”

When I spoke firmly, Hilde let out a deep sigh and began pedaling. The two-wheeled vehicle accelerated with the rhythm of her feet.

Indeed, human-powered vehicles are the most convenient. With some engineering magic, they achieve considerable speed, and best of all, they come with voice recognition and autopilot features.

“Faster! Keep going!”
“I’m trying! Ugh!”

I pressed Hilde verbally while using mind-reading. As the Golden Palace drew nearer, the thoughts of those inside began to filter through.

The Golden Palace was, in essence, the body of the Golden Mirror. Every substance within it moved and morphed according to its will.

The regressor and Tir, who had followed the golden core into the palace, found themselves bombarded from all directions. The ground surged up, the ceiling collapsed, and countless traps came flying at them. Every conceivable weapon attacked them, pushing the two into a grueling struggle to defend themselves.

Amid this chaos, Peru—having broken into the depths of the Golden Palace—pressed forward without pause.

The floor and ceiling closed in, trying to crush Peru in between. The moment Peru realized this, her unique magic shattered the encroaching material above and below. The ceiling collapsed, and the floor gave way. Though her body might fall, she wouldn’t be crushed.

Sharp springs burst forth, aiming to tear Peru apart, but they quickly corroded, unable to withstand the force and breaking apart. A spiked iron ball swung to strike her, but its weakened chain snapped, sending it rolling off in an unintended direction.

That wasn’t all. Mirrors installed to block vampires lost their luster in an instant. Weapons bristling with sharp edges shattered, starting from their thinnest points like fragile glass.

If the Golden Palace itself was the result of alchemy, then Peru was its undoing. She wasn’t overwhelmingly powerful, but as she advanced, she dismantled every intent the Golden Mirror had imbued into the palace, pushing deeper into its heart.

‘…I expected this. The golden core is also a creation of the Golden Mirror. The closer I get, the more I’ll just become raw material….’

Attacking the Golden Palace held no meaning. No matter how much damage was done, the Golden Mirror would simply restore it. Yet, there were two reasons why Peru chose to press in.

One, to reach the Golden Mirror as quickly as possible.
Two, to bring the furnace powering the golden core into the heart of the Golden Palace.

‘…The Verdant Furnace. My power, which collapses everything, contained in the only tool capable of trapping it.’

The Golden Mirror offered gifts to the “disciples” who sought it out—equipment designed to fully unleash their unique magic. These were known as the Juggernauts, a mysterious symbol of the Golden Mirror’s generosity to the Overseers who inherited its legacy.

Even the Golden Mirror, however, had wrestled with how to handle Peru.

Her unique magic brought about the end of matter, rejecting its very existence. No matter what tools the Golden Mirror crafted, they dissolved upon contact with her power.

‘…There was even talk of killing me back then.’

Some Overseers had argued that Peru’s alchemy-denying power was dangerous and suggested eliminating her to prevent future trouble. But the Golden Mirror hadn’t even dignified those suggestions with a response. Instead, it continued to create, day after day, testing one solution after another.

Finally, the Golden Mirror had produced the Verdant Furnace—a black box resembling glass more than metal, its material and structure unknowable. It was unbreakable, so long as there remained any material within it to collapse. Such was the Golden Mirror’s majesty—it overcame even paradoxes.

To the Golden Mirror, this trial-and-error process must have been a source of intellectual joy and inspiration—a rare stimulus for one who needed nothing else. Yet, what might have been idle contemplation for it had become a precious gift to someone else.

‘…O Golden Mirror.’

The Golden Palace shifted its structure once again. Perhaps realizing that Peru couldn’t be dealt with through relentless attacks alone, it changed tactics.

The ground disappeared beneath her feet. Peru faltered, stumbling down into the abyss below. Razor-sharp iron stakes jutted up where she was about to land.

Even Peru couldn’t avoid this kind of assault. But she hadn’t come unprepared. From her pocket, she pulled out a pure white orb and crushed it.

A Wind Orb, handed to her by the regressor. A storm erupted, propelling her body away. Though the force slammed her against a wall, it was better than being impaled. Gasping, she scattered the power of Verdant Collapse as she walked deeper into the Golden Palace.

[It’s difficult.]

A voice resonated through the corridor. Peru turned toward its source and spoke.

“…O Golden Mirror.”

[To face mercenaries, functionality is required. Yet with you here, I cannot function as intended. It’s crude, but the only solution might be to collapse the Golden Palace entirely.]

Was it willing to turn the entire palace into Peru’s grave? She had anticipated this possibility. Peru’s powers were absolute when it came to alchemy, but she herself was only human—fragile. If the Golden Mirror used all its resources to kill her, there was no way she could endure.

Even so, Peru had come here. Not just to protect her country…but that wasn’t the only reason. Clutching the Verdant Furnace in her arms, walking through the endless corridor, she pleaded with the Golden Mirror.

“…Isn’t there a way for us?”

Overseers could converse with the Golden Mirror. Their imaginations were rooted in its essence, which allowed them to communicate directly with its fragmented consciousness. Peru’s words touched that fragmented mind, drawing a response.

[What do you mean?]

“…We revere you. Though we are not the Golden Nation, your power and majesty are common knowledge in the Heat Nation. Yet, was our nation…so lacking that you couldn’t remain among us?”

Her sorrowful words were met with the Golden Mirror’s cold reply.

[I never commanded you to revere me. It was you who intruded upon my Golden Nation, living here without my permission, and stealing objects to sell. All of this, without my consent.]
“…We did it to survive.”
[And now I shall end your lives for it.]

Its logic transcended life and death, the kind only a god could wield. Peru swallowed nervously and spoke again.

“…Even if we scavenged the objects you discarded, we were always grateful to you.”
[I did not seek your gratitude.]
“…No one dared to call themselves king in your presence.”
[As they shouldn’t have.]
“…To us, you were our ruler, our teacher, and our god. Were we so unworthy of being your people?”

Peru’s earnest plea was met with the same icy response.

[Your beliefs are nothing but your own arrogance. I am a human of the Golden Nation, and my king is the only one I serve. I am not a king but a regent—a caretaker for the land my king left behind.]

A king needs subjects to farm, to toil, and to die in their place. A king cherishes their people because they are necessary.

But the Golden Mirror, having become a god, needed nothing. It had even killed itself, and so it could discard all else, even an entire nation, without hesitation. Perhaps that was why gods were so harsh. Realizing this, Peru swallowed her rising tears and asked her deity:

“…In that land, were we not included?”

After a brief pause, the Golden Mirror answered.

[You were not.]

Peru’s steps faltered. Lowering her head, she let the despair wash over her before gently placing the Verdant Furnace on the ground.

The collapse of one material accelerated the collapse of another. The furnace, which had been fueled by countless alchemical metals over the years to power the golden core, was now brimming with Peru’s concentrated power.

‘…Years of collected Verdant energy… Will it be enough?’

It was a black box she had never dared to destroy or empty, for once broken, it could never be restored. Peru took out a red orb from her pocket and placed it atop the furnace.

The Lava Tear—an artifact excavated from a volcano and refined through a special process to concentrate heat. Even in the inflation-ridden Heat Nation, it was a priceless treasure. Peru, who had kept it for emergencies, poured her magic into the orb.

The orb shattered, and crimson molten lava poured over the furnace. The liquid flames greedily devoured the outer shell, spreading across its surface. The furnace glowed red-hot before succumbing to the heat and melting away.

A single drop of molten lava seeped into its core, piercing through. In that moment, the ominous power sealed within for years burst free, tearing through the weakened barrier.

The Verdant energy didn’t fail to act on the furnace—it simply hadn’t reached it due to its unique structure. But now, with the seals broken by the lava, years’ worth of Peru’s power surged out, consuming the very barriers that had confined it.

‘…Even if this doesn’t work, it’s all I can do.’

It was no longer even debris—a mass of liquid resembling an amalgamation of ash. It didn’t touch the ground; anything it came into contact with collapsed instantly, cascading downward like a destructive waterfall.

The spreading ash-like liquid grew larger as it flowed, turning everything it touched into a part of itself. The Verdant energy quickly expanded, staining the Golden Palace with its corrosive presence.

“…Hah…hah…”

Even though it had flowed downward under the pull of gravity, just being near it had turned Peru’s limbs black. Her breathing grew ragged. Without even direct contact, the residual energy tore her body and insides apart.

[Impressive. To fight to the very end.]

Through labored breaths, Peru replied.

“…For the Heat Nation.”
[But you’ve forgotten something.]

Though the poison of the Verdant energy had engulfed the Golden Palace, the Golden Mirror spoke as if unperturbed.

[Even that furnace was my creation.]

At some point, the Verdant energy halted its advance, as if blocked by an invisible barrier. It had reached a place it could not pass. Peru, coughing painfully, belatedly realized the truth.

The ground she stood on, as well as the entire structure, was made of the same material as the furnace she had brought.

[It was something I had tested once while creating the golden core. What has been done once can always be done again. The first time is always the hardest.]

“…Ah.”

This place—no, the entire Golden Palace—was a seal designed to trap Peru and her power. Peru had thought she was infiltrating, but in truth, she had been guided here by the Golden Mirror.

Facing her despair, the Golden Mirror spoke with the tone of a teacher imparting knowledge to a student.

[There are ways to counter your power. The problem lay with the mercenaries you brought. Weapons made to kill them were useless against your power, and measures to stop you were destroyed by the mercenaries. The solution was to separate you.]

“…So, the fortress…”
[Your mercenaries were dangerous. Precautions had to be taken.]

Perhaps it was despair, or perhaps it was her sheer physical limit. Peru could no longer stand, collapsing to the ground. Her ragged breaths were met with the Golden Mirror’s cold voice.

[Impressive, but this is the end. If the Heat Nation is so precious to you, vanish along with it.]

Now there was no move left for Peru. She didn’t even have the strength to use her unique magic anymore. Her wide-open eyes stared at the ceiling, which was drawing closer with every moment.

The ceiling, moving according to the Golden Mirror’s will, would inevitably collide with the floor, heedless of any obstacles in its path.

Peru would leave no body behind, reduced to pieces of flesh and a smear of blood, erased entirely from existence. Perhaps this fate had been sealed the moment she was abandoned by her god.

And just as death crept unbearably close—