“-!”

When Alon opened his eyes, he was in a pure white space where there was nothing at all.

No way to tell where up or down was.

A space so completely white he couldn’t even tell where the place he was standing began or ended.

Staring blankly at that space, Alon thought—

‘Did I... fail...?’

Failure.

In truth, at the final moment, death had already reached Alon.

After using Reverse Heavens again and again, Alon’s body no longer permitted any more Reverse Heavens.

And Alon had even drawn out every last shred of divine power needed to use the divinity of the primordial elf.

And yet Alon had still used Reverse Heavens not because Alon had resigned himself to death, but because Alon had made a meticulous calculation in Alon’s own way.

‘......I’m sure divine power gathered at the last moment.’

What Alon had thought of when Alon recalled Elivan’s voice was—

using Reverse Heavens at the very last moment, and at the same time drawing in the soldiers’ awe that had gathered and using the divinity of the primordial elf.

Because Alon had believed the troops there would provide at least the minimum amount of divine power needed for Alon to use the primordial elf’s divine power.

So, just as Alon was only briefly sinking into thought—

“!”

Alon realized that a figure with a familiar appearance was standing right in front of him—

“......Elivan?”

—Elivan.

The face Elivan turned toward Alon as if Elivan had been waiting for that call wasn’t much different from the last time Alon had seen it.

A bright smile at the corner of Elivan’s mouth.

The sight of Elivan looking at Alon with clear blue eyes that held no depth.

“Wh—”

Alon started to speak, then only moved Alon’s lips.

Alon couldn’t get a sense of where to start or what to ask.

Should Alon ask if they were dead?

Or ask where this place was?

Should Alon ask why Elivan had become a sin?

Alon’s head was spinning.

But regretfully, Alon didn’t have much time to agonize.

“I’m sorry. But for the sake of the ‘next,’ this was the only way. So.”

No—

“Please... take care of what comes after.”

Even the time Alon had been given wasn’t much.

“Wait—!”

At Elivan’s farewell-like words, Alon shouted without realizing it.

Alon still hadn’t decided what Alon was supposed to say.

Alon knew there was no time.

But if this really was the last time—

there was something Alon absolutely had to tell Elivan.

“Thank you.”

Alon had been trying to prevent ruin all this time, but Alon still hadn’t staked everything.

Even while knowing ruin was coming, Alon hadn’t risked Alon’s life.

And that was—

because Elivan had been there.

Because the protagonist of Psychedelia—

the protagonist who saved this world—had been there.

Even while making efforts, Alon had been able to keep one step of distance from the pressure of ruin.

So Alon was saying it.

Because all this time, just the fact that Elivan existed had made Alon feel relief and comfort.

Relief and comfort against the fear of the future.

Perhaps that sincerity reached Elivan, because Elivan stared at Alon.

Elivan’s smile was still the same.

But—

“Don’t say that. Whether it’s then or now, the one receiving help is—”

as if Elivan were a little more satisfied,

“always me.”

Just as Alon was about to smile back—

“-Father.”

“Huh—?”

Pain tore through Alon’s entire body.

“Ghk—!?”

The instant the pain struck, Alon’s eyes flew open wide.

Feeling as if Alon’s whole body were being split apart, Alon bit down on the scream trying to burst out and barely looked ahead.

The abyss was still in the sky.

Inside that abyss, the Milky Way was still there, and below it, the land where thorns had risen was gone, replaced by ashen ground.

And in that ashen world, the Bearer was standing there.

It looked different from before.

Most of the armor it wore was shattered, and half of the sword it held was gone somewhere, leaving only the hilt.

A state where it looked impossible for battle to continue any longer.

“Ah—”

Even seeing that, Alon let out a low groan.

The Bearer’s condition was certainly miserable.

And perhaps because of the Bearer’s damage, the sins fighting alongside it also weren’t moving anymore.

But—

Udeudeuk—

Alon saw it.

The Bearer’s body, though only a little, was slowly regenerating.

[Can you bear the karma of sin?]

The sin’s voice came as Alon was thinking what to do.

Alon looked at it without a word.

What it said was the same as before.

“.......”

Alon opened and closed Alon’s lips over and over.

In truth, Alon knew what answer Alon had to give.

Given the circumstances, there was only one answer Alon could give here.

And yet Alon hesitated.

Even though Alon knew nothing, Alon couldn’t be sure that agreeing to those words was really the right answer.

As the silence stretched, the Bearer quietly looked at Alon—

and began to speak.

[We have taken countless lives so far.]

[There was a time we filled the continent with the blood of those we took.]

Calmly.

[There was a time we covered the entire continent with the bodies of those we took.]

And indifferently, it continued.

[There was a time we cut down the head of a mother holding a broom to protect her child.]

[There was a time we crushed the body of a son holding a hoe to protect his old mother.]

[There was a time we burst a priest who was offering prayers to protect orphans.]

[There was a time we split a soldier in half who charged in to protect a lover.]

There was a time—

There was a time—

There was a time────

The Bearer’s voice, calm, held the truths of what the sins had done until now.

There was no pleasure in it.

No excitement.

No guilt.

No joy.

What Alon felt from that voice listing the deaths of countless people was an emotion that was contradictory to an excessive degree.

So contradictory that everyone here couldn’t help but feel doubt, even if only for an instant.

[We killed those we were supposed to protect.]

A sense of duty.

That was what could be felt.

“......Why?”

And at the answer that followed—

[To stop the “Watchers.”]

Alon held a fragment of truth in Alon’s eyes.

[This world was originally made for the birth of a god.]

[That is the nature of this world.]

New fragments of truth Alon had never known began pouring into Alon’s ears.

[That is why, in this world, one can become a “god” through “belief.”]

Things that couldn’t be known in Psychedelia.

[All sapient beings raised on this continent exist only for the birth of a god,]

Things that couldn’t be known even while living here.

[And with the birth of a god—]

The truth of this world.

[—it is ruined.]

At the information that flowed quietly from the Bearer’s mouth, a question rose in Alon instinctively and Alon opened Alon’s mouth.

“......There was already a ‘god’ in the previous world.”

[You mean what you humans called the era of the forgotten god?]

“Yeah.”

[Those are not gods. They are merely mutants that appeared in this world. In the first place, no life born in this world can become a god.]

“Why?”

Alon’s immediate question.

But—

[Because the life of this world was not made to become a god.]

The answer was so simple and so clear that it shut Alon’s mouth.

[The life of this world exists only to offer faith to the “Watchers” who descend upon this world. That is the end of our duty.]

But—

[The one who woke us realized one fact even within this world’s hopeless truth.]

“.......”

[That if the number of living individuals does not exceed a certain threshold, they do not descend.]

“......Ah.”

A low sound escaped Alon.

‘I wanted to protect... humans.’

At the same time, the Sin of Sloth’s voice rose like a lantern slide—

and with that, Alon understood clearly.

The truth of this world—

[The sins went mad.]

[Greed erased its own emotions from the agony of killing what it was supposed to protect.]

[Envy could no longer maintain its own form.]

The truth of the sins—

[Sloth turned its eyes away from a horrible reality.]

[Pride, despite that lofty birth, ultimately regressed its own intelligence.]

The Bearer looked ahead with a calm face.

[I’ll ask again.]

[Can you—bear the karma of sin?]

Another question.

Alon stayed silent.

At first, Alon couldn’t understand what it was saying.

The second time, Alon couldn’t understand either.

But this time, Alon could understand.

What it meant.

And what it meant to bear karma.

“.......”

The sins had taken countless lives until now, and because of that, the sins had been broken.

Of course, that didn’t justify their actions in any way.

Even if it had been a choice for the sake of the world, their actions had created countless people’s fear and screams.

And yet the sins had, in the end, maintained this world while taking upon themselves everyone’s resentment and sin.

That was why it was asking.

Whether Alon would bear the world they had protected by committing sin, earning hatred, and taking countless lives—

and end this cycle.

Whether Alon would put that karma on Alon’s back, karma that would crush Alon if Alon failed, and still step forward to save the world.

That was what it was asking.

“.......”

Alon worked Alon’s lips.

Countless thoughts brushed past Alon’s mind.

......In truth, Alon had never once thought Alon would take on a responsibility this huge.

Not when Alon saved the children.

Not when Alon dealt with the foreign gods.

Not when Alon dealt with the sins, either.

In the first place, Alon’s goal wasn’t something big.

Just do what Alon could, and live comfortably and happily in a place where the threat of ruin was gone.

That was all.

......No, maybe it had changed a little.

Alon turned Alon’s gaze.

Familiar faces were behind Alon.

Yutia was there, and Deus was there, and Rine, Seollang, and Radan were there.

“.......”

Ryang-a was there, and Historia, and Nangwon were there.

They weren’t here, but Magrina was there too.

......What Alon wanted was—

to live peacefully with those he had formed bonds with.

That was it.

Alon reaffirmed Alon’s purpose.

Even after coming this far, the word “salvation” still felt awkward to Alon.

The words “saving the world” still felt absurdly distant.

Alon wasn’t a hero.

Alon wasn’t a chosen hero, either.

But even so.

Even if that was the case.

In the end, for the sake of that small purpose of Alon’s, there was only one thing Alon had to do.

“Yeah.”

Alon nodded. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

With eyes that didn’t waver.

Staring quietly at the Bearer.

And declared it.

And then—

[Is that so.]

The Bearer answered.

Calmly.

But for some reason, as if it felt refreshed.

As if it was satisfied.

......As if it was grateful.

And—

[......If you have made that choice, then good.]

The Bearer’s body began to slowly turn to ashen powder and drift away.

And along with it, the sins that had been stopped until just a moment ago also began to become ashen dust and scatter.

[Take care of what comes after.]

At the Bearer’s words, Alon raised Alon’s voice urgently.

“......There’s something I want to ask.”

[What is it?]

“Who... are the Watchers, exactly?”

At that question, the Bearer raised the half sword it held upward.

Alon naturally lifted Alon’s gaze to the sky.

The sky had already returned to its original night sky.

So what could be seen was the Milky Way floating in the blue night sky.

“......?”

Alon felt doubt.

Alon looked at the sky along the sword’s tip, but there was still only the Milky Way there.

The Milky Way, shining brilliantly as it lit the land below.

But—

[There are things you can only see when you reach the truth.]

At the Bearer’s continued words, Alon, staring blankly at the sky, suddenly recalled words Alon had heard before.

‘......Does it look beautiful to you?’

The first time.

When Alon followed the Observer in Raksas.

The Observer’s words, spoken with a faint expression.

The words the Bearer had just said now—

‘There are things you can only see when you reach the truth.’

And—

[There are many names to call them.]

“......?”

The world began to change.

[There are many ways to describe them, too.]

The beautiful Milky Way spread before Alon’s eyes began to slowly change its appearance.

[People of the old East called them the Keepers of Providence.]

No—

[The ancient elves called them “those who stand atop the World Tree,”]

No.

[The ancient kingdoms sometimes called them those of divine blood. But the Ilanef Empire, which found «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» their origin, and the monster blood that destroyed the Empire—]

No.

[Those who would use this world as a foothold for gestation described them like this.]

It wasn’t that the form was changing.

It was simply—

“!”

—that Alon had become able to see the truth.

It wasn’t the Milky Way.

It wasn’t stars.

It was—

[Divine blood.]

“......Ey—?”

Eyes.

Dozens.

Hundreds.

Thousands of large and small eyes.

Filling the night sky.

Each with a different shape.

And yet—

[Th-thank you, th-thank you, th-thank you, th-thank you...]

[At la͟s͞t... you’re f͟i͞n͟a͞l͞l͞y coming d̸o̸w̸n... to the s͟u͞r͟f͞a͞c͞e.]

[I’ve been w͟a͞i͟t͞i͟n͟g... my b̸e̸n̸e̸f̸a̸c̸t̸o̸r.]

[I w͟a͞n͟t to b̸e̸c̸o̸m̸e it... I w͟a͞n͟t to b̸e̸c̸o̸m̸e it... I w͟a͞n͟t to b̸e̸c̸o̸m̸e it...]

[Krrrrrrrrr-]

[See you... o̸n the s͟u͞r͟f͞a͞c͞e.]

Every eye, filled with a thick, ecstatic joy, was staring at Alon.

“.......”

At the life that had finally witnessed the truth.

As if it was happy.