The corners of his mouth pulled up into a smirk.

The previously felt anxiety totally disappeared as their minds emptied completely. *Krrrrrrr*

The ground trembled. A destructive sound, much like the sound of thousands of trumpeters sounding their horns, resonated across the world.

Desir moaned softly as he was faced with the world that was unfolding before him, just like he remembered.

‘Is this really it?’ The Outsiders. Skull Mask.

The Outsiders made their name well-known because there were no other criminal organizations that could compare to them. However, they did not raise their infamy beyond a certain level, never quite causing enough trouble to be considered enemy number one by every country.

Though they committed various crimes, their main activity was in stealing magic stones. Although they were a valuable and limited resource, the act of obtaining them meant that they had to clear Shadow Worlds… a deed that was almost meritorious for the continent at large.

Seizing the odd Shadow World was not an issue that would draw the attention of the public.

In the end, no one wanted to spend the effort required to clean them up, least of all Desir who had busied himself preparing for the arrival of the Shadow Labyrinth.

That was a fatal mistake.

The problem was that they lowered their guards, thinking they were nothing and would not cause any major problem.

‘Skull Mask… So you were the one who artificially created it.’

Skull Mask hid himself amongst the Outsiders and diligently collected magic stones. He then used them to generate the Shadow Labyrinth without any interference.

*Rumble*

Hearing the thunder rumble, Desir looked up at the sky.

The sky that was blue a moment ago was starting to become tinged with red. The moon as well lost its light and became darker.

Desir was woken from his reverie upon noticing that the quest had been given to them now that the Shadow Labyrinth had begun.

[-The collapse of humanity has begun.]

[Protect civilization and survive against the Beast of Revelation.] ‘Our chances of success are slim.’

Desir, who overcame many hardships in his previous life, was disconcerted for a moment before quickly regaining his composure.

His mind analyzed the chance of success with great speed.

The Shadow Labyrinth.

Luckily? Unluckily? Desir was not quite sure, but they were at the start of a quest that did not start until nine years into the Shadow Labyrinth.

At that time, thousands of the most powerful elites attacked this Shadow World together. It was a quest that they barely completed after making tremendous sacrifices.

Realistically, it was impossible for just the two of them to clear. Nevertheless, Desir judged that there was a chance of winning. ‘There is a way.’

This was because there was one method that he kept right to the final moment. ‘I don’t know whether this can be carried out, but there are no other ways.’ Desir sighed.

‘In order to use it… ’

Desir looked around him.

He compared his memory with the surrounding environment.

He had to calmly remember the way this quest progressed and decide how to move about after that.

“Adjest.”

He called Adjest who was looking up at the sky with a blank expression. Her pupils, which witnessed the impending doom, were filled with fear “Get a hold of yourself. No need to worry.”

As soon as Adjest made eye contact with Desir, she felt the fear that filled her head subsiding and she began to feel at peace.

Perhaps it was faith. Indomitable faith that he would easily overcome this current situation. Adjest nodded in search of an order she could busy herself with.

“What do I need to do?”

“Retreat to the south. When I give a signal, arrange a defensive spell.”

It was a puzzling order, but Adjest drew her Center of the Ice without a word. [Ice Empress]

Desir arranged a spell as well. [Muscle Strengthening] [Acceleration]

It was Desir who moved first. He led the way and Adjest followed after him.

Both of them leaped several meters at a time and began their escape. The surrounding scenery drew closer like an arrow and then receded.

A few minutes later, Adjest sensed a sudden change in the atmosphere. *Baaaaaaang*

A powerful shockwave burst out.

Adjest momentarily lost her balance and staggered.

Despite being a few hundred meters away from the source of the shockwave, the force of the aftermath that washed over them made it difficult for her to keep her balance.

“What the… … !”

Barely standing, Adjest looked back. The buildings of the city were partially destroyed and began collapsing.

And something was in the center of that site.

An enormous arm a few meters long was soaring up from beneath the ground. *Rumble*

As the land began to split, starting from the location of the soaring arm, the thundering roar echoed.

When the cloud of dust almost reaching the sky subsided, something gigantic had appeared. Adjest never saw a monster with this kind of form before.

The black legs, along with a bent waist, showed off its presence. Behind it were seven undulating tails. The thorns at the end of the tail sprouted up like a crown.

“… … !”

It was the kind of monster that could only be found in myths.

It had an overwhelming sense of pressure.

At that moment, as Adjest was gawking, Desir shouted. “Prepare the defensive spell, Adjest!”

Something flowed out of the gigantic monster’s body immediately after.

And it spread in all directions. The speed of the expansion was so quick that the whole area, including the place they stood, was covered with dark clouds.

If they had not moved back with all of their strength, they would have been swept away by it. “Now!”

Desir gave a signal.

Adjest arranged a spell that she had prepared in advance. [Ice Palace]

She then began arranging every defensive spell that she knew. Dozens of defensive spells instantly overlapped and formed a gigantic dome-like wall. The wall emmenated a soft glow. Adjest had increased the level of the defensive power by putting aura into the defensive spells too.

[Binder of Earth]

On top of that, Desir added his own defensive spell.

The buildings surrounding them were torn down like cardboard. Adjest put the finishing touches on her protective wall by compressing the multitude of spells to raise their density.

It took no longer than five seconds for this series of processes to be completed. *Crasshhhhhh*

Everywhere lit up along with the thunderous sound. Thunderbolts rained down from the dark clouds that covered the city.

*Crashhh*

Whenever the thunderbolts landed near them, even if they only brushed past the defensive spells, a portion of the wall would be smashed to pieces.

Adjest, feeling this incredible power on a scale beyond anything she had felt before, felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

*Shwing*

Even though these were only glancing strikes, the power each lightning bolt held was great. ‘If we left only slightly later, we would’ve been swept away by these… ”

Thinking about this, Adjest felt her body shaking.

When the incessant thunderbolts finally subsided and the dark clouds cleared up, the splendid civilization vanished and only a crater was left behind.

No, there was one other thing still standing.

There was an enormous monster standing in the center of the crater. It was gazing upon Desir and Adjest.

It had recognized them.

This was inevitable: they were the only other thing still standing. At that moment, when Desir was about to make his next move. [-Beginning the Reality Reorganization Sequence.] [Forcefully terminating Shadow World.]

‘What?’

Everything ended abruptly. Everything, the colossal crater in front of their eyes, the gigantic beast, the very embodiment of the law of causality, as well as the substantial pressure overwhelming them, all fell away into darkness.

When the light illuminated the world again, Desir saw the roof of the palace that had previously been partially destroyed.

When he looked around, especially out a nearby window, he immediately took in the sight of Pittsburgh still standing as if nothing had happened.

“… Have we returned to reality?”

“I don’t know.”

There was no way they were able to understand this situation. It was the first time this happened.

Right at that moment, a communication spell came in from Romantica. [-You guys alright? Did you clear the Shadow World?]

It was clear that they had returned to reality. However… “No, we didn’t.”

[-What? Then how the hell did you guys return?] That was the million dollar question.

The only way to break through a Shadow World was to clear the quest given. The current situation was knocking down the common sense that everyone operated by.

The moment he believed that he had figured out Skull Mask’s objective, another question was presented.

‘Thinking about it, the Shadow World just now was different from the Shadow Labyrinth.’ The place that Desir and Adjest were in just now was not the Shadow Labyrinth, but merely one of the Shadow Worlds that formed the Shadow Labyrinth as a whole.

According to the timeline of his past life, the Shadow Labyrinth happened six months later. This would have been the case if it were allowed to form without interruption, but in this life, since there had been many interruptions, it was evident that it needed more time to fully form. If Skull Mask was able to progress his plan faster, he would have done so already. There was no reason for him not to.

Then… …

‘Did they try to dispose of us because we were in the way of their ultimate goal?’

Just as Skull Mask was the only obstacle for Desir, one could say Desir was the only obstacle for Skull Mask as well.

From Skull Mask’s point of view, if he disposed of Desir, he would be able to safely complete his plan, even if the plan itself was delayed as a result.

‘Then how come the Shadow World vanished all of a sudden?’

At that moment as Desir was thinking through his doubts on this matter… *Crack*

*Crrrraack*

The sound of shattering glasses echoed.

Following that sound, Desir focused his gaze towards the sky. “That’s… … !”

The sky was splitting, and the jet-black hand appeared out of it once again.

The Beast of Revelation.

The disaster that was supposed to only exist in the Shadow World had begun to appear in reality.

At last, Desir understood.

‘Were they researching how to bring the Shadow Worlds, capable of reproducing historical events, into reality?’

What Skull Mask meant when he talked about the power to restructure history itself must have been this.

*Crrrrack*

The moment Adjest saw gigantic claws that split open the crack, she turned pale. [-What the hell is that!]

Romantica, who was observing the situation, was bewildered and shouted. “This is the worst turn of events.”

What Adjest said was sensible and reasonable. Even if everyone here joined forces, there was no way they could take on that monster.

Because Adjest partially experienced its power inside the Shadow World, she was able to feel it all the more.

And Skull Mask must have thought the same way, thinking it could destroy the Allied Forces. “At least it’s far better than a moment ago.”

“What?”

“Because our chance of winning has increased by severalfold.” However, Skull Mask did not know that.

Desir Arman had already once reached the end of the Shadow Labyrinth. ‘You’ve made a mistake, Skull Mask.’

Their chances of winning had increased dramatically.

Superimposing this Shadow World over reality in order to destroy the Allied Forces resulted in Desir being able to call on far more military force.

Of course, even so, victory was far from guaranteed.

Because the monster in front of their eyes was not the kind of being they could say they could conquer just because Desir had done so once already.

Having thought this far, Desir Arman arranged a communication spell. “From now on, I order everyone to abandon all existing operations.”

It was a communication spell that was delivered to all members of the Allied Forces that had entered Pittsburgh.

There was confidence in Desir’s tone. ‘The current history has changed.’

They were in a far better position than when he faced this calamity in his previous life. Because above all, he had changed.

‘We can do this.’

He opened his mouth.

“I’ll now begin briefing you on the new operation… no… the final operation.”