— Kh—!

The moment he opened his eyes, Gunther Sirhe was seized by a violent coughing fit.

— Kh—kha, kha!

His body was fine. And yet, from the very depths of his throat, a dull, relentless cough burst out, like that of a consumptive patient.

— Damn it...

The cause was obvious. The black fog that filled everything around him.

Only after he wrapped his face tightly in mana did the coughing subside.

“Where am I...?”

It felt as if he had been shoved inside an industrial chimney. The fog swirled everywhere—so dense that even the sea fog of Nereus was nothing compared to it. The haze that obscured his vision was so thick it seemed almost tangible, viscous. Not air, but... some kind of flowing solid.

Gunther recalled the message that had appeared before he lost consciousness.

[Three gods clear their throats]

[And with peculiar expressions, they welcome you to their era]

The situation became clear.

...He had crash-landed in a forgotten era.

A time hundreds of years in the past, erased from history by Luthien, where even the past itself had been distorted. The era when the King of Knights, Alphonse, and the Saint were still alive.

“I can’t believe... something like this is possible.”

Gunther slowly stood, scanning his surroundings with caution. Ellen’s words echoed in his mind:

“Time does not flow in a straight line. It appears like a river, but in truth it consists of overlapping layers. We accessed one of those layers. This is not physical movement into the past, but a reconnection to coordinates already traversed.”

At first, he hadn’t fully understood—but now, the outline of the truth was taking shape.

Imagine time as a long video file. Until now, Gunther had thought of “Return” as rewinding. But Ellen explained it wasn’t that—it was simply selecting a timestamp and instantly jumping to that scene.

“...And Father interfered with that process, using his tricks.”

According to Ellen, Father had also obtained the power to manipulate time. And he had distorted Gunther’s connection point, throwing him into this forgotten era. The most dangerous period since the creation of the world.

Gunther’s eyes gleamed.

“Some details are still unclear... but the overall picture makes sense.”

Of course, it completely contradicted the conventional concept of time. Past regressions, the “connection” Ellen spoke of, and the changes caused by the Tablets... There were clearly inconsistencies. But there was no time to unravel everything now.

“If the task is survival, then this place must be beyond dangerous.”

Gunther looked around again. But there was nothing in sight except fog.

— Hm.

He raised his hand and tried to disperse it. The black haze, which should have scattered, merely warped as if swallowing his hand, without thinning in the slightest.

The forgotten era—an ancient age not even implemented in the game. A time whose information had been completely erased by Luthien. Naturally, Gunther had no knowledge of it.

“...I also need to find a way back to my own time.”

And then—

In a space where no one should exist, a voice seeped in quietly.

— Hide. Immediately.

Gunther obeyed instantly, driven by instinct. A chill ran down his spine to the bone. He didn’t hesitate.

[Serpent’s Nest (Lv. 3) activated]

In the dense fog, vision was completely useless—but Gunther had his “serpent.”

Rustle...

Invisible senses swept across the ground. The terrain formed in his mind: cracks, slopes, depressions.

Without hesitation, Gunther rushed to the deepest point. He squeezed himself into a shallow hollow, pressing his body flat against the earth. At the very moment he held his breath—

Whoooosh!

The fog stirred violently.

A damp wind tousled his hair. Visibility was still atrocious—he could barely see the tips of his own hair trembling before his eyes.

But... Gunther felt it. Beyond the veil of fog, something had appeared.

Thud.

A sensation he hadn’t felt since arriving in this world overwhelmed him.

An unbreakable fighting spirit, a will sharpened like a blade—everything trembled and went out in an instant, like a candle in the wind.

In its place came something primal. Despair and the instinct to survive.

A fitting example—imagine walking down a quiet alley when suddenly a gun is pressed against your forehead.

The shock would freeze your entire body. The certainty that any resistance means death would paralyze you. The unreality of it would leave you stunned.

And all of those sensations, amplified dozens of times, were tearing at Gunther’s nerves right now.

“...What the hell is this...?”

As Gunther froze like a stone statue, the presence moved away. He only regained the ability to move after the system notification rang out.

Ding!

[The vessel embodying the Evil God “King of the Starving” is moving away]

[Divinity resistance has slightly increased]

— Haa...

Gunther flexed his cramped muscles and recalled a past conversation with the Ruler of the Oceans. A conversation about the “Forgotten Era.”

“Humanity stood on the brink of extinction. Truly—destruction was breathing down its neck. There was only a final line of defense, and beyond it stretched endless lands consumed by Evil Gods.”

“The world lay in ruins. Everything faded, turning into a grotesque hell. Many heroes ascended, attained divinity, and fought them—but those were merely death throes. All were crushed and devoured by the Evil Gods.”

Only now did he realize—those words were not an exaggeration.

“This is what it actually was.”

“The true bodies of Evil Gods... just walking the world like this?”

There were four stages of divine descent:

Advent, Asin, Incarnation, Descent.

Even Asin-level beings in Gunther’s era were considered catastrophic threats. The spider-mother he had fought to save Eddie hadn’t even reached Asin, yet it had triggered the highest alert in Night ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Raven.

The same went for the swarm of Morphesia’s incarnation. Even detected early, it nearly wiped out the Border City’s Public Security Bureau.

And here, a being at the level of incarnation—possibly of a supreme Evil God—was roaming freely.

“...So things like that are everywhere in this fog.”

At that moment, he felt anew the greatness of the three gods who had opposed such monsters.

His body trembled with fear—but Gunther forced himself to stand. This was not the time to collapse.

“Who told me to hide?”

There was someone here. Someone who had warned him.

Gunther spread his mana again, scanning carefully.

And then—

.........

The fog around him suddenly grew much denser. As if something enormous had cast its shadow over him.

— Damn it.

Gunther, about to move, hesitated.

The dense zone stretched for hundreds of meters.

Fwoosh!

He slowly raised his hand. At his fingertips bloomed the Flame of Eternal Torment. Blue fire that burned all impurities pushed back the fog.

Ssshhh...

The darkness above his head retreated—just for a moment.

.........

There was a “mouth.”

A colossal maw, with no discernible up, down, left, or right. Its boundaries were impossible to define.

Space itself was torn apart, and within the rupture, bottomless darkness slowly contracted and expanded.

As if breathing.

[The King of the Starving is looking at you]

Crack.

.

.

.

[You have died]

[Calculating death records]

[29/99]

[####Error#####]

[Calculation impossible]

***

Gunther’s breath tore from his chest.

— Haa—haa!

His hands frantically checked his body. He had experienced many kinds of death...

...but this one was especially horrific.

That maw the size of a stadium, swallowing him whole. The endless darkness inside it.

...It wasn’t just death.

The moment he was directly devoured by an Evil God, a horrifying realization pierced him.

“I’ll break.”

Not his flesh—but something deeper.

Yes... there was a vile sensation that his very soul would be damaged. He didn’t know what would have happened if regression hadn’t triggered in time.

But even the regression was strange.

There was no usual light. No Karma calculation. No status messages.

He simply closed his eyes—and returned.

Perhaps it was the nature of this space.

— Damn it...

Gunther took several deep breaths, forcing air into his lungs, then exhaling slowly. Only then did his mind clear.

And he realized—

The surroundings felt painfully familiar.

A cool, salty sea breeze. Rustling leaves. The sound of them trembling.

At the center, leaning against a tree, stood a black-haired woman.

Ellen Beyra looked at him calmly.

— So, how was the forgotten era?

Gunther had to admit—he was glad to see her.

Compared to that nightmare, Ellen almost looked like an angel.

— ...Do I really have to go back there? To that cursed place?

The checkpoint was fixed in that twisted layer of time.

Ellen lowered her gaze briefly.

— Unless Father suddenly repents... yes. You have about five minutes.

Gunther sighed heavily.

— Ellen, how do I get out of there? Fighting doesn’t seem like an option.

— You already have the answer.

— I have no idea what you’re talking about.

— No. You do.

— I’m telling you, I don’t—wait. “I do?”

— ...Commoner.

— What did you say?

— Nothing.

Gunther changed direction.

— My companions... why did you pull them in with me?

— If they had remained there, it would have been dangerous.

— Dangerous...?

His brows furrowed deeply.

— ...Fine. Later.

No time.

— Why did you leave Gunther alone when he was ten?

Ellen’s expression tightened—just slightly.

Gunther pressed harder.

— You knew. That I... no, that a savior would enter your son’s body. If you wanted to cooperate, shouldn’t you have stayed?

If she had been there, things would have been different.

But she left.

Ellen pressed her lips together. Silence.

Rumble...

The space vibrated.

The forest distorted. The ground split apart.

Gunther exhaled quietly.

— ...That’s not fair.

— I’m sorry...

Craaaash!

The collapsing world swallowed her words.

The ground gave way.

He fell again.

The last thing he saw was Ellen’s blue eyes.

They looked... sad.

.

.

.

— ...So what now?

Gunther was back in the black fog.

Time was running out before that thing returned.

One mistake—and he could burn through all his remaining lives here.

“That thing is an incarnation of a supreme Evil God.”

Even dying repeatedly wouldn’t guarantee a solution.

“She said I already have the answer.”

Ellen wouldn’t say that without reason.

“...A stage where combat is impossible.”

Gunther’s mind worked at its limit.

He stood up and stared into the shifting fog.

Whatever was there—

First, he had to try one thing.