Chapter 85

Gazing up at the gigantic red skull blazing with fire, I heard an odd sound.

“Grreeeaaaah.”

Following the noise, I found a mysterious glob of slime wriggling around where a heart had turned to ash.

A black, grotesque mass oozing a horrid stench.

The smell is unbearable, truly disgusting.

The Golden Reapers, more sensitive than me, had already fled far away.

What in the world is this?

On closer inspection, it seemed to be trying to speak.

“Please… don’t die…”

“Save me…”

Though muffled and distorted, I clearly heard “save me.”

Since it speaks human language, I’ve seen something similar before – that monstrous human-object hybrid that attacked me in the cave.

This melted mass also appears to have a vaguely humanoid shape when you look closely.

So there was another one of these abominations?

Then it must die.

Without hesitation, I cleaved off the slime creature’s head.

Boil boil.

As its head was severed, the slime bubbled violently and exploded with a “pop.”

Until the very end, while its head was being cut off, the slime kept muttering “don’t want to die… save me…” etc. It died leaving behind only black blood like the cave monster.

The slime could no longer maintain its form and spread out as black liquid in all directions.

Kong kong.

Golden Reaper is punching my head while sleeping soundly on top of it.

Hm…

They’ll definitely be mad.

But it’ll be fun.

Plunking the sleeping Golden Reaper into the slime.

In that instant,

The Golden Reaper who normally sleeps through anything woke up with a start and leapt out of the slime.

After shaking off the slime with ghosting, they seemed about to get angry but teleported back to the Golden Garden.

Ah, they really are mad.

Even when I try to resummon them on my palm, they turn their back and refuse to look at me.

“I’m sorry, I won’t do it again unless necessary.”

Petting them affectionately.

As I keep petting, they glance at me then come back smiling and cling onto my head.

The Golden Reapers really are kind.

***

I climbed atop the burning skull.

Since the skull is massive, the flames attached to it are enormous too, engulfing my whole body in fire.

Can a human even do this?

There doesn’t seem to be any fire-resistant suit that would let someone enter these flames…

Looking at the red moon from atop this tall skull makes it feel a bit closer.

The destruction condition for the red moon.

[Place the red skull in the center of the desert, set it on fire, and dance upon it.]

We’ve got the red skull and set it on fire.

Now we just need to place it in the center and dance!

When Seoah and I return to the research facility, Yerin will probably have bought new pudding to keep us going.

We need to hurry up and finish.

The center of the desert is directly beneath the red moon.

Sitting astride the burning skull, I played with the Golden Reapers while waiting for the red moon to reach above the skull.

However, the red moon showed no signs of moving above the skull.

Instead, it seemed to be orbiting around the red skull.

The movement pattern of the red moon had changed.

What? Do I really need to pick up and move the skull?

***

Taking shelter under the Golden Pyramid to escape the scorching moonlight.

While “scorching moonlight” sounds strange, it’s genuinely hot so there’s nothing to be done about it.

On my palm sat my little guardian angel, a Golden Reaper.

The Golden Reaper tapped my palm twice.

A signal asking to be thrown into the sky.

Moving slightly outside the pyramid, I prepared to toss the Golden Reaper high up.

Though I know this tiny golden imp is actually much stronger than a human object, it always seems so small and fragile that I can’t help but handle it carefully when throwing.

Lifting my palm slowly, I gave the Golden Reaper a gentle toss into the air.

What would be terrifying height for a human, the Golden Reaper happily grinned and enjoyed flying through the sky.

Spinning around up there, they landed with gymnast-like flair and struck a cool pose.

“Wow! Great job!”

Clapping and petting them results in a wide grin.

They seem even happier than when they were tossed.

Is it not that they find flying fun but rather they’re asking me to throw them so they can receive praise?

Well, they’re cute so it’s fine.

Just as they were staring at me intently seeking attention, they suddenly whipped their head around and began gazing at a certain spot beyond the horizon.

Simultaneously, the heavens split apart.

A colossal pillar of crimson light descended from the sky.

All manner of objects sprouted up from all directions.

“Reaper! Objects are appearing!”

I tightly hugged the Golden Reaper and cautiously looked around.

Around me, countless sand soldiers emerged.

Though the Golden Reaper normally instantly detects dangerous objects approaching me, this time they didn’t seem particularly concerned.

Have they judged these objects to not be threats to me?

Fortunately, the objects currently emerging don’t show any interest in me at all, simply rushing towards the light pillar.

After observing the light pillar for quite some time, the Golden Reaper lost interest, looked at me, and started dancing.

Dancing?

Why suddenly?

Though sudden, the Golden Reaper happily danced with a big smile.

***

Ah, this is annoying.

I’ve been dancing in the flames.

For nearly an hour.

Below me, the Golden Reapers joyfully laugh and chatter amongst themselves as they imitate my dance.

You guys must be having fun.

Actually, I started dancing out of slight self-abandonment.

Since moving the skull is impossible and the red moon shows no intention of coming closer.

Whatever!

And it turns out I was right.

A spotlight shone down upon my head and the red moon began slowly creeping towards me.

Judging by the speed, it looks like 3 hours of dancing will do it.

My dance model is the classic waddle dance of the black penguin I’ve seen many pictures of before.

However, since I’ve never danced before, it’s quite difficult.

Just as I was thinking if I just keep dancing until the red moon is above my head, another obstacle appeared.

Objects came rushing from all sides and began attacking me.

Do I really have to dance non-stop for 3 hours in this glass-making fire while fending off objects?

And deal with that building-sized fire-breathing skull beforehand?

Is this even possible for a human?

Actually, before considering possibility, figuring out how to destroy it seems impossible too.

Fortunately, I don’t need to deal with incoming objects myself.

The Golden Reapers took care of them for me, declaring that they won’t tolerate party crashers.

Any object that approached was instantly shredded by the Golden Reapers as if fed into a grinder.

Three hours.

Would love for it to pass quickly.

***

After the light pillar descended from the sky, the moonlight gradually weakened.

It must be Gray Reaper’s doing.

The scorching moonlight emitted by the red moon has almost become powerless.

The temperature has dropped to normal levels, making it unnecessary to hide inside the Golden Pyramid anymore.

Moreover, the desert is shrinking.

Wherever I look, the barren desert that used to stretch endlessly to every horizon is now gone.

Looking around now, I can see a transparent dome and familiar skyscrapers beyond it.

All these phenomena occurred after the light pillar appeared.

Perhaps the Gray Reaper is working hard to save people wherever that light pillar is?

The distance to the light pillar seems close enough to walk to.

Carrying the happily dancing Golden Reaper on my palm, I slowly began walking toward the light pillar.

Let’s go welcome the Gray Reaper!

***

A dance party broke out in the Gray Reaper Isolation Room without the Gray Reaper present.

It started with the Golden Reapers.

Then Yerin saw the suddenly dancing Golden Reapers and joined in, starting the chain reaction.

Of course, we couldn’t keep up with the Golden Reaper’s infinite stamina, and after collapsing from exhaustion, Yerin and I lay panting while watching TV.

As if to prove that the Golden Reaper’s spontaneous actions are never meaningless, the news was showing shocking footage.

Waddle waddle.

The awkwardly dancing Gray Reaper and the innocently joyful dancing Golden Reapers surrounding them.

It was high-definition video footage.

The magnificent sight of Reapers dancing under dazzling spotlights in the center of the desert was visible.

Around the dancing Gray Reaper’s skull, people had gathered in a circle.

Superstar Gray Reaper?

What situation is this?

“Unnie! Unnie! There’s Sister Seoah over there!”

“Ah, she looks unharmed thankfully.”

Spotting Seoah in the fleeting footage put our minds at ease.

Truly, the trustworthy Gray Reaper.

Our research institute’s guardian deity!