The world stopped.

The red sky that had been choked with dust just moments ago was gone before anyone realized it.

In its place was—

darkness like the abyss.

A darkness holding nothing at all filled the heavens.

And within that overwhelming sight—

“......”

Alon stared at the presence in front of him.

...Honestly, the current situation was nothing but things he couldn’t understand.

He couldn’t understand why he—who had been on the vessel—was now standing on this ground in an instant.

He couldn’t understand what the thing in front of him even was.

As far as Alon knew, even if the Sin of Wrath entered a second phase, it didn’t transform into something like this.

“......”

Alon stared blankly at the presence.

It was more alien than any sin he had seen so far.

The figure of the knight standing there wasn’t more splendid than any other sin.

It wasn’t more overwhelming than any other sin.

It wasn’t even more destructive.

It was simply... quiet.

Like the gaping abyss visible between its armor plates, the sight of it holding a single greatsword with only one arm was too calm, too still.

And because of that—

it looked dangerous.

[I’ll ask again.]

In the middle of that thought, Alon unconsciously turned his gaze toward it at the voice he heard.

[Can you bear the karma of sin?]

The same question as before.

A tranquil question, as placid as the emptiness between its armor, lingered at his ear—

but Alon couldn’t answer.

He had no idea what it meant.

And he still couldn’t even grasp what the thing in front of him was.

He had never seen it in Psychedelia, either.

So—

“What are you...?”

Alon asked back.

At that, the thing that had been silently watching Alon for a while said—

[Why ask that? You already know.]

It murmured low, then looked down at Alon.

[I am the Sin of Wrath. And also—]

It raised its one arm.

[The Bearer.]

Woooong—!

As that arm—so thin it looked like it had no muscle, only bone—lifted, a red light began to seep from the greatsword.

“Teacher!”

“Marquis!”

At the same time, voices from Seollang and Radan—who had been staring blankly until a moment ago—rang out, and a familiar figure moved between Alon and the Bearer.

But—

Kraack—!

The sword lifted by that gaunt one-armed limb wasn’t swung.

It was stabbed into the ground.

Kwagagagagak—!!!!

The earth burst open, and spikes began to shoot up.

Spikes so huge each one could skewer straight through the torso of a gigantic monster exploded in every direction, churning the ground into chaos—

and that grotesque noise and the soldiers’ screams rang out together.

And then—

“Are you okay, Teacher!?”

“Yeah.”

The ground had turned into something like massive vines.

With Seollang’s help, Alon broke free, and as he turned his head toward the Bearer—now far off in the distance—

he could see it.

It had already lifted the sword again after having driven it into the earth, floating loftily in the sky.

And—

its gaze, fixed precisely on where Alon stood.

[From here on, the test begins.]

The Bearer’s voice resonated calmly, and the sword in its hand now breathed out a blue haze.

[Whether you can truly bear our karma, as he said.]

With a chilling crackling sound—

crack—

the abyss that had swallowed the sky began to split.

One line,

two lines,

four lines—

soon, countless slashes covered the sky that had been nothing but darkness, and what appeared with the sound of glass shattering from the cracked sky was—

[Whether you can save this world.]

a Milky Way.

Filling the night sky—

a colossal Milky Way the likes of which no one had ever seen even once.

[Whether it is something I do not need to bring to ruin.]

With that endlessly bright sky behind it—

[Prove it.]

The Bearer demanded it, holding the greatsword.

The soldiers who had been screaming in terror just moments ago.

The knights who had drawn their swords as the situation escalated, hands trembling.

The mages who were debating whether they needed to raise defensive magic again.

Everyone’s eyes, without exception, turned to one place.

To the Bearer, standing proudly with the stars at its back, with only one sword left in its hand.

Everyone here knew.

They knew the thing in front of them was a monster.

They knew it was a calamity with unprecedented power, something that could crush them like ants at any moment.

And yet no one could take their eyes off it.

Why?

Because it looked awe-inspiring?

Because it looked overwhelming?

Because it looked like despair?

Because they felt fear?

Because they felt release?

—Because they felt sadness?

“......”

Alon forced his chaotic mind to turn as cold as possible.

He still hadn’t figured out what that thing was.

No—of course he hadn’t.

Its existence, the things it was saying—

Alon couldn’t understand any of it.

As far as Alon knew, Psychedelia’s ending was dealing with all the sins.

If you did that, the world would be freed from sin, and a happy ending would arrive.

That was the ending °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Alon had known up to now.

But unlike everything he’d known, the Bearer in front of him was telling Alon a completely different story.

‘Whether I can bear the karma of sin...? Whether I can save the world...?’

Words that meant nothing to Alon—

“!”

As Alon reached that thought, something from the past suddenly surfaced in his mind.

‘What I wanted to protect was... humans.’

The last words the Sin of Sloth had left behind when it was dealt with.

“......”

Remembering that far, Alon stared at it with complicated eyes.

...Honestly, there were still countless things that didn’t make sense.

But if there was one thing he could be sure of—

it was that there was a “behind” Alon didn’t know.

And—

“...Seollang.”

“Yeah, Teacher.”

No matter how many questions he had, no matter how many facts he realized—

in the end, what he had to do didn’t change.

“Get ready.”

Alon had to stop that thing.

If he didn’t, ruin would come.

The moment Alon shoved a hand into his chest pocket and the moment the Bearer—who hadn’t moved at all until now—moved its hand, were the same.

Crunch—

The crystal ball that came out in Alon’s hand shattered.

Along with it, a bone-chilling sound rang out, loud enough to cut across the entire ruins.

It was one of the signals Alon had agreed on with the allied forces in advance.

If anything unexpected happened and that sound was heard, they were to withdraw the soldiers unconditionally.

As the signal device blared from Alon’s hand, troops all over began moving with hurried voices—

and in that moment—

“!?”

Sins appeared—visible to the eye.

The Sin of Envy, which hadn’t fully manifested before, with eight massive hands.

The Sin of Greed, which had been dealt with in Fildagreen, whipping hundreds of wings.

The emotionless man who had been reborn as Ashtalon’s black calamity.

The black dragon of Pride, so arrogant it never bowed its head.

They slowly formed their bodies, then finally manifested.

“This is insane—”

“Th-that—”

Clear panic spread through the soldiers.

And the shock leaking out spread like a plague through the retreating ranks.

But—

Alon, who had been frowning as well, was able to steady his mind without much trouble.

‘They’re not the real bodies.’

The sins he was seeing weren’t the true bodies.

Even if they looked the same on the outside, their coloration held an ashen gray, like the spikes that had erupted from the ground, and the power they gave off was noticeably weak for something called a sin.

Of course, that was only compared to the real thing—

Kwaaaang—!

The dragon of Pride vanished at a speed beyond Alon’s perception and shot toward Asteria’s soldiers in an instant.

A speed like light, so fast no one could even hope to respond. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

So brief the fleeing soldiers didn’t even realize.

So brief even the commander standing right there couldn’t perceive it.

In that sliver of time—

“Pride” brought its claws down.

Pajik—!

Right up until the moment someone interfered.

Pajijijik—!

Golden current illuminated the ashen dragon.

A faceless Thunder God, its entire body turned gold, reflected across it—

“Clang-clang-”

Time,

“Thunderbolt,”

reverses again.

———Kwaaaah—!

Another instant too brief to perceive.

Pride took a kick from Seollang, shattered every path of spikes that had erupted like thorns, and vanished—

and as if on cue, the other sins moved as well.

Unfortunately, the other sins also failed to achieve their aims.

“...Just like I heard.”

Radan appeared before the Sin of Envy, which was twisting its body.

“I’ve already finished scouting to a certain extent.”

Around the Sin of Greed, which was about to spread its wings, hundreds—thousands—of golden coffins multiplied into existence.

“I won’t allow that.”

Above the Sin of Sloth, which had expanded a black territory and trapped soldiers who hadn’t managed to retreat inside it, purple threads began tangling in a dizzying web.

A standoff situation, each matched to a designated opponent.

They had blocked the sins, but the situation still wasn’t favorable.

Even if they blocked the sins, there was no one who could stop the Bearer now.

And even if they did stop the Bearer, in this state, it would be hard to guarantee victory.

And even if those were only puppets it had created, the sins’ abilities still remained—and they carried a portion of those abilities as well.

In other words, they could hold the sins back for a long time, but they couldn’t completely finish them off.

And yet, even knowing all of that—

Alon’s face was calm.

Because in this place, the ones who could stop the sins weren’t only them.

———————!

A chilling black energy spread in every direction.

Within it, black hands rose up, grabbed the body of the sin that had been tearing apart golden coffins—

“Situation change—”

Ryang-a, horns enlarged to a massive size and spraying an eerie mana just from the sight of them, slammed down the body of Pride that had been charging at Seollang, then detonated a mana wave with a chilling smile.

Ts—

Cutting away the black threads clinging to every expanding territory, Historia revealed a cold, emotionless face.

With that, the balance was restored.

And then—

“Teacher.”

“Yutia?”

“I’ll help too. If it’s just defense—I’m confident.”

Yutia joined in.

“Okay.”

White light scattered from her hand.

“...Diffraction.”

The battle began.

And then, soon—

[R-rrrrrrr-rrr-■■■■■■■■■■■■■■]

The Milky Way began to shine.

More vividly than ever before.