Rumble- Crash-

Meirin gazed at the sky from the southernmost coast of the South American continent, listening to the black waves tainted with demonic aura crashing into the cliff she stood atop.

Beyond the western horizon, shockwaves were ceaselessly erupting. The space there could be visibly seen writhing, unable to endure the strain.

Crack!

The murky sky was suddenly torn into tatters, seemingly raked by the claws of some colossal being. And through those jagged scars, the darkness of outer space could be seen shimmering like a mirage—along with the sight of a massive floating island with a pure white tower piercing through it.

A mythical battle that felt equally impossibly distant and terrifyingly close was clearly happening beyond the horizon. Yet despite the absurd spectacle that was freed from the constraints of space itself, Meirin moved her gaze toward the system windows hovering before her.

[Midwestern North America: 17 Simultaneous EF5 Tornadoes Detected]

[Southeastern Siberia: Multiple Earthquakes Detected, Hypocenter Depth of 12km]

[Northwestern South Pacific: 18.3 Meter Tsunami Wave Detected]

[Southern Sahara Desert: Massive Sandstorm due to High-Pressure Collapse Detected]

[Icelandic Glacial Region: Large-Scale Volcanic Eruption Detected]

...

...

...

Real-time reports of disasters across the globe came in through Terra.

“...”

Despite the battle taking place thousands of kilometers above the planet’s surface in orbital space, the aftershocks were still enough to influence the ecosystem to the point of near total collapse: a grand calamity. Thus was the effect of the collision between those who had reached the extreme of spatial magic, where the clash rendered the outcome irrelevant.

[Confirmed the loss of 61.5% of global planetary ecosystems. Activating self-restoration protocol ‘Terra’.]

After that brief notification, the entire planet flashed gold—and everything was instantly reverted to its original state. Terra’s pseudo-power, acquired through the Planetary Reinforcement Plan, had done its job. With it, Terra had become the administrator of the Towers of Heroes and registered Earth as part of the system, allowing her to borrow the Golden Ring’s power to restore all damage in an instant.

“...Looks like all that preparation paid off.”

Had the Planetary Reinforcement Plan not been completed in time, how much vitality would the planet have lost from that battle alone? Understanding anew just how harsh the environment had been for humanity before the regression, Meirin resumed her review of Terra’s logs.

It seems like we can hold out for now... but the real problem lies here.

The Forest of Repetition had already been marked for conquest when Se-Hoon planned the Demon Realm elimination operation, so even if a battle broke out there, it would likely remain within acceptable calculations.

However, the place she and the others were tasked to handle—the Abyss of Demons—was a complete mystery. There were far too many variables, with no telling how the enemy would act.

I guess that’s probably why he had those two stationed here.

Turning her head, Meirin looked toward the two figures standing at the edge of the cliff.

“You’re sure that you know what you’re supposed to do, right? Don’t push yourselves like you did during the trial. Just act within the bounds of your assigned roles. Remember that our job is simply to buy time...”

Aria was lecturing Jake while Eun-Ha silently gazed toward the southern horizon where the Abyss of Demons lay.

Excluding the Perfect Ones, those two were effectively the strongest humanity had to offer. With them deployed to keep the Abyss in check, most situations should be manageable.

They can handle most situations... I hope, anyway, Meirin thought as she also stared southward—

“It moved.”

Everyone’s attention snapped toward the person next to Meirin, who had just opened her eyes: Erika.

Meirin immediately asked, “The location?”

“Nine hundred kilometers below us. And...” Erika trailed off, narrowing her eyes as she stared at the figure through the vision of a crow monitoring Antarctica. “It looks like Tuner is waiting for us.”

“Waiting... hm.”

Meirin frowned.

Even with all remaining Demon Realms under simultaneous assault, Tuner was calmly waiting. The intent behind his composure was impossible to read.

Meanwhile, as Meirin fell into thought, Eun-Ha spoke. “He is probably preparing something. Initiating contact may give us the opportunity to gain some time through conversation..”

Their role was to prevent the Abyss of Demons—and any remnants lurking within—from interfering with the other Demon Realms. Regardless of Tuner’s intent, if they could stall him even slightly, that alone would be enough.

“Sounds like it’s decided. Shall we head out immediately?” Aria asked.

Looking at each other, they all nodded. And upon seeing that, Erika moved her Bound Celestial Garment to form a circle at her feet.

“Open Gate.”

Swoosh-

Shadows spilled out from beneath Erika’s feet, filling the circle formed by the Bound Celestial Garment. Within it, a hazy and distorted scene appeared, as though they were peering into the depths of a crow’s eye.

Then, the moment they could make out the lone shadow standing atop dark, viscous black mud—so dark it made even the demonic-aura-tainted sea look clear—their sense of orientation flipped.

Whoosh!

Before they had even noticed, the five of them were transported to the skies above the Antarctic coast, where Erika’s crow had been scouting moments ago as it looked down at the shadow below. In other words, at Tuner.

Squelch-

He now had a body that was flowing endlessly, as though he had fused with the black mud. From high above, he looked little more than a roughly piled heap of sludge, devoid of vitality. But the signature crow mask at the height where a face would be made it unmistakable that it was Tuner.

He seems to have gone through it.... I guess there were no exaggerations this time.

Observing Tuner repeatedly collapsing and regenerating, unable to maintain a stable form even for a moment, Meirin felt a flicker of relief—along with heightened caution. The fact Tuner still attempted contact despite being in such a state meant only one thing: he must still have some leeway left.

“Five of you, huhhhh. I didn’t thinkkkk you guys would go this far for a loser on death’s doorrrrrrrrr. Ah, or were you just waryyyyy of the Abyss of Demons? It is a rather unpleasant place, after allllllllll...”

Tuner’s voice stretched out unnaturally, reverberating from afar, making Jake scowl as irritation scraped at his nerves.

“Ugh...”

“That’s a clone. The main body is probably at the swamp’s core.”

Eun-Ha narrowed her eyes upon hearing Erika’s message through the spell. While sending a clone in place of a weakened main body wasn’t an unusual strategy, when said clone was formed from the very black mud covering the Abyss of Demons, that was another matter entirely.

Has he assimilated into the Abyss? It’s too early to jump to conclusions, but...

If Tuner had truly fused with the Abyss of Demons and gained something from it, they would need to be far more cautious than ever before.

Fwoosh!

Eun-Ha clenched her fist, the tips of her hair igniting into waves of crimson flame. Similarly, the other four followed suit and readied themselves. Tensions were high as they faced off, where conflict could erupt at any moment—and yet, Tuner was completely at ease.

“Relax, guys! Relax~ Whatever you’re so wary ooooooooooof, it’s obvious at a glannnnnnnce, isn’t ittttt?... What can a lump of mud like meeeeeee do when it’s lost all its cards and is barelyyyyyy clinging on to life?”

Plop-

Tuner’s right arm, raised as if in surrender, collapsed under its own instability. Likewise, the rest of his body was fluctuating as it struggled to maintain its shape. Even for a remotely controlled clone, considering the power he had displayed until now, it was a pitiful sight.

“Whew... I guess this is why they tell you not to gamble... thought I had a pretty good hand, too.”

“...”

“Welllllll... can’t be hellllllpedddddd.... My opponent was a ‘cheater’ who knew all my cardsssssssssss... after allllllllllll...”

Cheater.

The expressions of all five subtly changed. They had all realized he was indirectly referring to Se-Hoon’s regression.

“What? Has he already told you guys everything? Boooooo... If he’d kept it a secret, I might’ve stirred some dissssssssssssscord.... How thorough of him—”

“So?” Aria cut in, arms crossed as she looked down at him. “Are you just going to keep rambling on? Looks like you’re about done with your preparations. If you’ve got something to say, say it.”

She flicked her gaze toward the mud-choked horizon, making Tuner in his true body deep within the Abyss of Demons flinch.

She pinpointed my position from there? But I didn’t sense any mana use.... Don’t tell me she located it purely based on intuition?

Tuner was genuinely impressed. To think Aria could display such ability with her power that had reached the realm of Perfect Ones without actually attaining ascension—a “Singularity.”

That guy really does create nothing but absurdities.

Thinking of the absent cheater, Tuner clicked his tongue and turned his focus back to the group through his clone.

“I actually don’t have much to say. That guy went to the Forest of Repetition, didn’t he?”

“...”

“Ahhhhhh.... You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to. I’m already pretty sure, anyway.”

Aria’s eyes sharpened.

“You’re certain?”

“Of courseeeeeee... out of the remaining Demon Realms, that’s the only place he could goooooo... no, the only place he must go.”

Looking toward the Forest of Repetition, Tuner was filled with a sense of anticipation.

“I’m curious how it’ll turn ouuuuuuuuut... though either way, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m at a disadvantage~”

His knowing tone, filled with anticipation, hardened everyone’s expressions.

Wasting no time, Meirin immediately contacted Terra. “Can you contact Se-Hoon?”

“That’s not possible at the moment. Communication has been lost since he entered the Forest.”

Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t be strange given a Demon Realm’s environment, but after Tuner’s ominous words, it was impossible not to worry. A glance passed between the companions, and in an instant, a shared decision was made.

“Haha.... Those eyes of yours have gotten scaryyyyy. It feels like this went from a delaying action to an extermination—”

Shing-

A golden trajectory carved through the air, etching itself over Tuner’s clone. A golden blade had slid from Aria’s waist, its tip currently lowering lazily.

Clang!

The mud crashed down, unable to recombine or even reform. That slash wasn’t some simple slash; no, it was a strike that severed the very concept of the material itself. Naturally, damage was transmitted to the main body—but to someone already as good as dead, it meant little.

Rumble-

Distorted Law: Unceasing Sea of Ruin

BOOM!

The southern horizon erupted skyward. Like a colossal meteor had slammed down, a tidal wave of mud surged outward from Antarctica in all directions.

“Hahahahahahahahahaha. Let’s see you stop this!”

Tuner burst into mad laughter from the epicenter, buried deep within the Abyss. No holds barred, it was an indiscriminate, planet-wide erosion attack. Such a thing had been unthinkable previously, since the erosion was lethal to demons as well.

With the Demon Force basically annihilated, however, what was the point of holding back?

The Pilgrim’s Path might act as a breakwater... but I doubt it can hold for long~

Even if the Pilgrim were alive, Tuner was confident the attack would’ve been difficult to stop. So, with him dead, the path would only collapse more quickly and allow the remaining continents to be eroded. He’d be able to buy just a bit more time with that.

Filled with glee, Tuner watched the black deluge spread outward—

“A wide-area erosion pattern,” Eun-Ha said suddenly, calmly clenching her fist. “I’ll handle the interception. Erika, on me.”

At her call, Erika retrieved a black sphere from within the Bound Celestial Garment.

Woong-

The black sphere was a fragment of the Heaven’s Well, imbued with the power of both a Perfect One and a Harbinger of Destruction. Obtained during the battle against the Destroyer of Ruin and Ryuuma, the unstable shard entrusted to Erika by Se-Hoon now had its seal released.

Swish-

Layers of translucent bindings unraveled, and the two forcibly fused powers instantly began clashing violently, putting the combination on the verge of separation in the blink of an eye.

Watching the reaction—between the crimson liquid symbolizing the Seeker’s power and the black mud embodying ruin—Erika acted just as the two were about to split.

“Heavenbreaker’s Dominion.”

Woong!

The two opposing forces were forced back together by her sorcery, then wrapped tightly by the Bound Celestial Garment to force the creation of a new form. Unlike before, Erika had used her soul to impose a temporary direction on the chaotic powers.

And once it neared completion, Erika borrowed a new spell borrowed from Se-Hoon’s Soul Weapon.

“Soul Curse Form, Yata Divine Domain Mirror.”

WOONG!

A sacred mirror with a faint gray sheen materialized in front of Erika, countless scenes refracting within it like a kaleidoscope. The tens of thousands of crows previously deployed to monitor the Abyss of Demons had all transformed into identical mirrors linked to the one in Erika’s hands: the Yata Divine Domain Mirror.

What?!

Sensing danger, Tuner squeezed out what little power he had left to send formless spikes piercing through space to stab Erika through the black mud. The spikes erased physicality, allowing them to slip through spatial gaps and pierce the soul directly. Unstoppable, the tip of one reached Erika’s nape—

Slash!

Jake’s Soul Weapon flashed a fraction of a second before contact, cleanly splitting the invisible spike.

“What...?”

The brutish slash had seized the initiative the moment a gap was perceived, transcending space-time itself? Tuner almost thought the Trailblazer had just come by, making him reel in shock.

“Hmph...!”

While Tuner was still reeling, Eun-Ha, having finished preheating the Soul Furnace, hurled her crimson-heated fist straight into the Yata Divine Domain Mirror.

Thooom-

As the kaleidoscopic scenes were dyed crimson by the impact, countless crimson stars flared simultaneously in the skies above Antarctica. Their lights swelled, growing larger and larger... until they all fell upon the black tidal wave surging from beyond the horizon.

BOOOOM!

The rain of crimson meteors erased everything without leaving a trace.