Under the dark sky, the waves of blood covered the earth. Piles of corpses formed mountains, and intestines rolled about like stones on the ground. Even at the scene of one of the most horrendous massacres in human history, the murderer, Baal, remained calm. He seemed apathetic even, just like a human killing ants.

KWAAAAA….

Somewhere, magic power was raging. Baal turned his gaze to the source of the sound. Kim Suho’s sword strike was coming for him.

Baal scattered the sword strike with a single motion of his hand. But Kim Suho was persistent. He continued to wield his sword, though by now he must have realized that he, a mere human, was no match for the transcendent evil that was Baal.

“——!”

With a shout, Kim Suho poured his all into his sword. But Baal easily parried his blow. Clang—! Baal’s demonic energy and Kim Suho’s sword collided with each other with a sharp clang. Then, suddenly, another sword cut through their point of contact.

“You— bastard—!”

With a loud shout, Chae Nayun swung her magic sword, which was as big as Morax.

Chae Nayun extended her sword, hoping it would reach Baal. In response, the devil stretched his demonic energy, and the thin string of demonic energy destroyed the core of her sword, shattering it to bits.

“…”

Suddenly, a smile flickered across Baal’s face. Chae Nayun’s sword, which covered half of his view, disappeared, and now he could clearly see those who had been hiding behind it.

Countless Heroes, each with unique weapons and powers, were racing towards Baal.

Baal recognized all of them. Rachel, Yoo Sihyuk, Yoo Jinwoong, Aileen, Nicholas…. As he perceived their names and faces, Baal suddenly grew tired.

He regretted synchronizing with Bell. If it weren’t for Bell’s memories, he wouldn’t have allowed those ants to bother him in the first place.

Instead of facing the Heroes, Baal slowed the time around them. In a world of stillness, Baal carefully observed each and every single one of them.

They were filled with determination. Clearly, nothing could break their resolve to protect their world.

Looking at their faces, Baal began to ponder upon the concept of a ‘novel’.

Was this where he was supposed to fall? If so, for what did he destroy all those different worlds? Were all his years of life just a fictional device for this moment?

“…”

Baal looked up at the sky in silence. White specks of dust were slowly appearing in the dark sky. The specks became rays of light that poured down towards the earth in slow motion. Each of these rays represented a portal that carried reinforcements from another dimension.

Looking at the scenery before his eyes, Baal smiled bitterly.

—What is this?

—Has ‘god’ responded to the humans’ prayers?

—Then, where was this god when I was destroying other worlds?

This wasn’t the kind of contemplation that suited a devil.

Baal closed his eyes, and the speed of the world returned to normal.

“…Baal.”

Kim Suho called Baal’s name and glanced at Morax behind Baal.

Baal’s face was expressionless as he looked straight at Kim Suho. He had plenty of questions for the hero.

—Do you know where you came from?

—What if you were just a toy- a doll designed for the sake of entertaining ‘higher beings’? Will you still sacrifice your life just to kill me?

“…”

Baal didn’t ask, so Kim Suho didn’t answer. The devil already knew Kim Suho’s answer, though, based on Bell’s memories.

—Whoever I am, whatever this world is, it doesn’t matter. I’m just protecting people who are precious to me.

That was what Kim Suho would say.

“Sir Suho. So this is where you were.”

Crevon’s troops lined up behind Kim Suho, who stood firm with his sword in his hand. Most of the soldiers were knights, but there were priests and magicians among them as well. Kim Suho glanced at them and nodded.

“…Very funny.”

Baal scoffed and examined the world before him.

Morax was in perfect shape, and he still had a lot of soldiers left.

Still, humans were obstinate. A huge metallic object was floating in the sky, bombarding demons, and those who couldn’t possibly exist in this world descended from the sky through the paths of light.

—…Old Man.

At that moment, letters appeared in front of Baal. He realized immediately who had sent this message – Leraje.

“Where are you?”

—I can’t help you.

Baal clenched his teeth.

“…Where are you?”

—It wouldn’t be a bad idea to withdraw here.

“Don’t make me say it again,” Baal growled, not even trying to hide his anger.

However, Leraje was insistent.

—You already lost your castle. Don’t push yourself too hard. Why don’t you just give up this time….

Castle. Baal’s castle served as an important medium that linked the Phenomenon Realm and the Transcendent Realm. Without his castle, Baal’s demonic energy was no longer infinite, and the number of soldiers Baal could summon decreased as well.

And said castle had already been destroyed by a certain foe….

“…Leave.”

Baal shook Leraje off. Bual was already dead, and Vassago and Leraje had no intention of cooperating with Baal. He realized that victory was no longer a guarantee.

That did not mean he intended to step down. Even if he was fated to die here, even if he was ‘created’ to eventually lose….

“I’ll destroy this world by myself.”

With a look of firm determination, Baal took a step forward. Kim Suho’s eyes and thousands of pairs of eyes lined up behind Kim Suho, turned to Baal.

Baal faced them straight as he altered his body. He broke out of his human form and took on the form of a devil.

It was then.

Chweeek—!

Suddenly arrows, spears, and swords pierced the devil’s body. More than pain, he felt perplexed. There was nothing special about these weapons, yet they had managed to cut through his demonic energy and wound his demonic flesh.

Baal opened his eyes wide and turned to where the attack had come from. He felt confused, almost astonished by what he saw next.

“…!”

A magician was there. Baal knew her name even without relying on Bell’s memory.

Shimurin, the Grand Magician.

“How….”

But Shimurin wasn’t the only one who had appeared out of the blue. The soldiers of the other world who escaped destruction had arrived on Earth through Shimurin’s magic.

These soldiers were aiming at Baal, each armed with exorcism weapons.

“Hm. This world sure is humid.”

Muttering, Shimruin stepped forward. Baal said nothing. He tried hard to grasp the present situation. He knew Shimurin died a long time ago…. He had never experienced anything like this in thousands of years.

Suddenly a voice flowed into Baal’s ears.

—You brought this on yourself, Baal.

Baal recognized this voice.

Vassago, the rank 2 devil.

She went on as if none of this surprised her at all.

—You’ve regenerated the first world you descended into and brought to ruin. The only way you could overcome the law of causality and descend entirely was to destroy the world once again, which had already been destroyed. But this time, the world you regenerated was not destroyed. ‘Someone’ protected that world, and now its people came to hunt you down.

Baal was silent. He turned his gaze to Shimurin and the other humans.

The Republic of Leores.

The Kingdom of Arunheim.

His feelings towards the people of the other world were contradictory. He considered them insignificant, but at the same time, he also missed them.

The devil hunter named Harin, the knight named Airun, the magician named Shimurin.

And… the prince by the name of ‘Krisbell’.

A smile spread across Baal’s face as he locked gazes with his old friend.

**

[Essence of the Strait Underground Bunker — Yoo Yeonha’s Office]

Yoo Yeonha was sitting in an office full of hologram screens. Each of these screens was broadcasting real-time situations around the world. Everyone was fighting the same war under different skies.

East Asia, Oceania, America and Europe. All the continents were engulfed in war, and death and destruction spread like infectious diseases throughout the world.

“Focus on saving lives. There’s enough food and medicine in the bunker.”

—Roger.

With the brutality of the war still in mind, Yoo Yeonha gave orders to her people. She was well aware of her duties as the Chief Officer of Essence of the Strait.

“I think [Dimensional Entropy] is safe now~”

Suddenly, a leisurely voice rang in Yoo Yeonha’s ears. Yoo Yeonha slowly raised her head. Jain was leaning against the wall of the office.

“We’ve worked pretty hard. Do we get anything for it~?”

Yoo Yeonha frowned. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to give rewards. What bothered her was Jain’s appearance.

Jain was disguised as Kim Hajin.

“There will be plenty of rewards. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“What’s with the sour face~?”

“…It’s your disguise.”

Yoo Yeonha muttered, and Jain smirked. Slowly, Jain approached Yoo Yeonha, with her disguise still on.

“I- I said stop. Enough with the jokes.”

Yoo Yeonha blushed as Kim Hajin’s face neared hers.

“What do you think? It’s amazing, right? My disguise, I mean. I can even change my voice.”

Jain grinned and caressed Yoo Yeonha’s cheek. When the warm hand that had the same temperature as Kim Hajin reached her, Yoo Yeonha gulped.

It was then.

—Chief Officer!

Surprised by the voice calling her, Yoo Yeonha pushed Jain away.

Jain clicked her tongue, and Yoo Yeonha answered in a loud voice.

“W-w-what?!”

—Please take a look at this.

The informant showed Yoo Yeonha a video. It was taken at a forest near Vladivostok. Two humans- no, two humanoid monsters were in it. At first, she thought it was nothing special.

But then the moment she recognized the two monsters, she felt her hair stand on end.

“…Is this…?”

—Yes.

The informant announced gravely.

—It’s Orden.

“…”

Feeling a painful throb in her head, Yoo Yeonha stared at Orden. Orden was pushing his way through the grass. He clearly had a destination in mind.

Based on the analysis of his route, it was predicted that Orden was headed to the Korean border, where the battle with Baal was currently taking place.

“Ah….”

Orden was coming here. Orden, who used to be humanity’s worst enemy before Baal. He was coming to finally destroy Earth for good.

Yoo Yeonha sank to the floor in despair. Her slender body slipped down the chair, and Jain smirked at the sight.

—But there’s something strange about them….

Yoo Yeonha couldn’t focus on the words that followed. She thought everything was over now. She was barely holding out, and the news of Orden pushed her into a meltdown.

‘If I’m gonna die like this, if everything is gonna end like this… wouldn’t it be better to say what I haven’t been able to say before I’m gone for good?’

With that in mind, Yoo Yeonha picked up her smartwatch instead of planting an apple tree.

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