Something happened all of a sudden.

Alon couldn’t make sense of what was happening.

His brow furrowed without him meaning to.

He saw a Scorpion break through the wall and force its way inside.

It was darker than he remembered, but it was definitely a Scorpion.

A monster possessing the artifact of pride.

Why?

As far as Alon knew, the Scorpion should have been hibernating in its cave until the protagonist went to deal with it.

In other words, it shouldn’t have been wandering around like this.

Alon couldn’t understand the situation at all.

“Bro...ther?”

At Seolrang’s voice nearby, he turned his head.

Seolrang—who had been holding a black cat just a moment ago—was now staring at the Scorpion with trembling eyes, as if she couldn’t believe it.

Following her gaze, Alon turned—

Ah—

Only then did he realize there was a Beastman on top of the Scorpion.

A Beastman with gray-white hair.

The moment he recognized that presence—

“1”

The man looked at Alon and grinned, then vanished, leaving a trail of black lightning.

“Acceleration.”

Instinctively, Alon formed a seal and moved backward.

It was an instinctive move, with no time to think.

And it saved him.

Boom-!!

Black lightning struck the spot where Alon had been standing, missing him by a hair’s breadth.

“Wow, that was quick? Honestly, I didn’t think you’d react. Too bad.”

The ground was completely shattered.

Through the rising dust, the man stepped out with a broad smile on his lips.

Keeping his expression calm, Alon forced his mind to work.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall the Beastman’s identity.

No—he wasn’t failing to remember.

...Is this the same situation as Duke Komalon?

He was someone who didn’t appear in the original story. Realizing that, Alon tensed.

“Who are you?”

The Beastman’s lips, emerging through the dust, slowly parted.

“Me? Well, how should I introduce myself? The brother of the fool standing behind you? Or perhaps—an apostle serving the Great Pride?”

“An apostle?”

Alon’s thoughts turned into a knot.

He’d only heard a few pieces of information, but those two words were already enough to make him start deducing what was going on.

However—

“Seolgak, bro...ther?”

At Seolrang’s mutter, Alon had no choice but to look at her.

The corners of Seolrang’s eyes trembled as she stared at the apostle’s face.

But unlike her, the man called Seolgak kept a relaxed expression.

“Yeah, Seolrang. This is your brother.”

“How—how is this possible?”

She asked in disbelief, as if she were wading through a dream.

But her reaction didn’t seem to matter to him. The smile never left his lips.

“What are # Nоvеlight # you curious about, little sister? Wondering why I’m still alive? Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’re in a situation to enjoy ourselves. I have things I need to do.”

Then he looked at Alon.

“1”

And he reappeared right in front of him.

Without hesitation, Seolgak drove his fist toward Alon’s heart.

Alon couldn’t react fast enough—

But the fist didn’t pierce Alon’s heart.

“What are you doing, brother?”

Because Seolrang had blocked it.

“Bingo.”

Seolgak’s smile deepened.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m doing what needs to be done.”

“What task?”

Still not understanding, Seolrang asked again. Seolgak lightly tapped her head with his other hand.

“Yes, a task indeed. A task that must be done to rebirth my sister as ‘a great being.’” 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Seolrang’s face was still full of unanswered questions.

Sullak sighed, as if regretful.

“Really—you’ve always been a high-maintenance sister. I prepared everything in advance before, but seeing that you’re still not broken and holding up well...”

“What are you talking about?”

Seolrang’s voice shook with confusion.

But no matter what emotion she showed—

“Don’t try to understand it unnecessarily, sister. From now on, I will make you into a being that suits you.”

Sullak grinned.

“!”

At that moment, Alon recalled a conversation he’d had with the Golden Dragon Lainisius.

“Not at all. The bodies they descend into are initially created by the Apostles.”

“...Apostles?”

“Yes. They often mentally break down those with high talent to make it easier for them to descend.”

It was a brief conversation.

Remembering it didn’t mean Alon understood everything.

He still had no information about the “Apostle of Pride” in front of him, or about Seolrang’s past.

He only knew her village had burned down.

To draw a clean chain of cause and effect, what he had was nowhere near enough.

But if there was one thing he could predict clearly—

“Let’s set aside the most precious thing for later, and first tidy up the patchwork my sister has worked so diligently to build.”

—that was what was coming next.

Soon.

Crack-!

Black lightning flashed, and the guild building where the Golden Mane tribe had gathered began to burst apart in an instant.

*****

At that moment—

Chaos ruled the fortress of the Colony.

“What in the world!”

Karsem’s eyes went wide.

A massive monster had already crushed the wall and was now rampaging into the inner city, tearing through the capital.

Fear, horror, and helplessness swallowed him.

Even though he’d studied magic for a little over half a year and reached the first rank, there was nothing he could do in this situation.

So as the monster grew larger in his field of view—

“Prince! You must move!”

A knight shouted too late, and Karsem turned.

He wanted to face the monster, too, but he already knew.

Confronting it now would be certain death, and rushing in would only get the knights following him killed as well.

Unlike before, Karsem fully understood the responsibilities that came with being a prince—not just the power.

Forcing himself to make a rational decision, he turned away.

“We have to evacuate until the Barbarians arrive!”

He fell in with the knights, but—

At that moment—

“Uh—!”

He turned toward the moan.

A young maid.

She’d apparently sprained her ankle and was sprawled on the ground, sobbing.

The girl looked up in terror at the Scorpion, which had already entered the inner fortress and reached the garden.

Seeing that, Karsem’s steps slowed.

He knew it even then.

Even if he went now, the chances of saving her were slim.

Trying to save her was foolish.

And yet Karsem hesitated.

He knew he wasn’t a hero.

He knew he didn’t even have the strength to be one.

Still, his mind replayed that scene.

Marquis Palatio and Seolrang, rescuing Fillian from death without a second thought.

Saving the Merkiliane domain without sparing a single thought for their own safety.

What about him?

He was a pig on two legs—so why had he worked so hard over the past half-year?

Karsem had run this far because he wanted to be like that.

“Prince!”

“Run forward!”

As the shouting rose, Karsem pulled the wand from his pocket and summoned wind. For someone who hadn’t even studied magic for half a year, he handled it with startling skill. He quickly grabbed the young maid and shouted,

“Whoosh!”

He rolled sideways just in time.

Boom!

The Scorpion’s massive pincer slammed down with perfect timing.

Squeak!

The pincer embedded into the blackening, oxidized ground. Karsem sprang up and sprinted toward a decorative well connected to the underground waterways.

If I can get down to the sewer, it won’t be able to follow...!

He chanted again, freezing the ground.

A slick path of ice formed instantly between him and the well. He slid across it, dodging another monstrous strike, and was about to jump into the waterway when—

“Ah.”

Despair twisted his face.

The well’s entrance—something he’d fought his way to—had collapsed from the earlier shock and was completely blocked.

Above him, the monster’s shadow swallowed the light.

Karsem watched the Scorpion line up its pincer again, and as he grit his teeth—

“You’ve held up well.”

“...What?”

Karsem stared.

In front of him stood a girl, unfamiliar eyes open on her back.

And then—

Dozens of golden rods forced the Scorpion’s pincer back.

-!!!!

Frustrated by being stopped, the Scorpion roared and swung its pincers wildly.

Its merciless assault began snapping the summoned golden rods, but—

“Hmm—It would be troublesome if the master were to rest during times like this,”

Rine remained unfazed.

If this had been just a day earlier, she wouldn’t have been able to stay composed in a situation like this.

She had only recently fully awakened “the Eye of the Tracker,” and her abilities wouldn’t have been enough to stop the Scorpion.

Today, the reason she could stay calm was simple.

Yesterday, after Alon left for the ruins, Rine had used the first clue granted by “the Eye of the Tracker” the moment it awakened. She’d discovered a hidden site somewhere in the desert—secrets not even recorded in the library.

What she learned from the ruins was scant.

Only two things: “the Eye of the Tracker” was “the key,” and a way to mobilize “the Eye” to a limited extent.

But even that was enough.

She might not know exactly how to use “the Eye of the Tracker,” but she knew what it could summon.

So—

“Well, I needed to test a newly discovered fact anyway, so this works out.”

With a relaxed expression—

“Gather.”

She gave the command.

And with it—

Whooosh~!

A halo formed from the giant eye behind Rine.

Soon, countless golden rods burst forth, assembling into a shape around her.

The first thing to form was a skeleton.

Over it, another layer of golden rods coiled, encasing that frame.

Then, above it, still more rods intertwined in chaotic layers, taking form.

Thus—

What finally emerged was a door so massive it could easily surpass the height of the city walls.

And then—

Grooooaaaaarrrr!!!!

“The magic-tech weapon of the Ilaneph Empire, ‘Pluto.’”

With a sound that shook heaven and earth, the circular door opened.

Something emerged from within—something that could overwhelm even the Scorpion.

“...Hand?”

Even Karsem, drowning in despair, could only stare up in shock at the mechanically crafted hand.

Made of innumerable parts and golden rods, it was a gigantic mechanical hand that looked capable of grasping the sky.

Its mere presence made the world feel alien—a hand vast enough to blot out the sun, descending into the fortress’s airspace.

“Limited deployment,”

Rine commanded.

“Divine Punishment.”

The imposing hand of a god slammed down toward the earth.

To punish the abomination that shouldn’t exist in this world.

Boommmmm!!!