Chapter 261

In the fog tinged with a pale blue hue, a blurry silhouette began to speak.

[Big Brother.]

“Wha… How?”

The man started walking slowly toward the direction where the silhouette of his younger sister was visible, as if under a spell.

The trail of footprints stretching toward the silhouette’s direction.

And the man was gradually advancing along those footprints.

‘It’s definitely a trap.’

The man knew in his mind that it was highly suspicious since he had witnessed his younger sister’s final moments.

She’s already dead; this is definitely a trap.

But no matter how much he repeated that in his head, his instincts were leading him to a different conclusion.

Despite the blurry silhouette and eerily identical voice, he couldn’t help but feel certain—it was definitely his younger sister.

So there was absolutely no way he could stop his feet.

Squelch. Squelch.

The sound of walking on muddy ground.

The man slowly retraced the footprints already imprinted on the sticky mud as he walked.

Every time the man placed his foot on the ground, the footprints vanished, revealing a smooth surface as if no one had ever stepped on the muddy ground.

As he approached his sister, the world around him began to distort little by little.

Even though butterflies still transformed into cocoons and footprints reversed, the essence of everything was undeniably changing.

The refreshing, gentle scent of water from the fog turned into an irritating metallic rust smell.

Beautiful blue-glowing butterflies became grotesque jewelry carved out of rusted metal plates.

The fine mud covering the floor morphed into a putrid swamp mixed with rusted iron powder.

And the figure of the sister he met through the fog was also like that.

Though her silhouette was blurred, parts of her appeared like a corroded doll with patches of exposed rusted metal.

Moreover, her body was wrapped in rough, loosely twisted rusted wire.

[You’ve finally come here.]

[I thought you’d arrive at this place eventually.]

[I prayed you wouldn’t.]

No matter how many times the man asked if the figure was truly his sister, she continued speaking as if she didn’t hear, wearing a melancholic smile.

[How is Italy now? How many days—or years—have passed? It’s hard to tell here because time behaves strangely.]

While gazing at the sky wistfully, red rust-like tears streamed down her face.

She wiped away her tears while forcing a smile and looked directly at the man before speaking.

[You must have surely asked me this by now.]

[Why did I come here?]

[Since time is short, I’ll get straight to the point.]

[While seeking a way to end the blessing of the stars, I ended up reaching this place.]

Then she stretched out her hands as if trying to push the man away.

[Therefore, please promise me never to come here again.]

However, her hands passed right through him without making contact.

Looking sorrowfully at her own hands, she spoke to the man.

[Run quickly.]

[Before the sun sets.]

With that, she looked up at the sky amidst the thick fog.

Strangely enough, sunlight pierced through the dense fog and struck the ground.

***

When the attached human began gazing upward at the sunlight descending from the sky, the purple reaper was staring intently at the ground, brimming with tension.

From beneath the crimson-rusted muddy surface emerged an overwhelming presence.

Before entering the fog, the reaper was confident enough to fight against even the blue giant, but not anymore.

Too strong!

Even while protecting the attached human, the reaper felt incapable of fighting properly—it seemed far too powerful.

‘Mom!’

‘MOM!!’

The purple reaper stood rigidly, desperately calling out for its mother.

But due to the fog, its will couldn’t reach the gray reaper.

‘MOM!!!’

As the ominous presence of the giant drew closer, the purple reaper emitted a vibrant purple glow to signal for help—but instead of the gray reaper, it caught the attention of the blue giant.

BOOM.

Iron wires erupted from the ground.

Numerous beings entangled in these wires began being dragged into the rusted mire.

[Already? Why?]

The attached human’s younger sister, being pulled by the wires, looked bewildered.

She screamed at the man to flee, warning him that the monster possessed godlike strength.

No weapon or object on Earth could possibly stand against it.

‘!’

But the man had already sensed something was amiss and started scanning his surroundings cautiously before she shouted.

Gazing at the sister being dragged into the ground, the man silently prayed they would meet again someday.

Just as the man steadied himself, a colossal giant rose from the earth, towering high enough to touch the heavens.

A giant glowing blue.

The sight of the giant, previously only visible to entities of the purple reaper’s caliber, was now clearly seen by the man.

Its mere gaze warped the surrounding space, causing ripples that pushed the air violently, stirring up winds within the fog.

A monstrous creature so vast that a single gun couldn’t possibly harm it, distorting space with just its presence.

To the ordinary human man, victory against such a beast seemed impossible.

“What… is this?”

Moreover, the artificial eye embedded in one of his eyes revealed streams of power invisible to others.

The flow of energy emanating from the giant resembled that of a “selector,” yet its scale transcended dimensions.

Its influence spanned the entire southern region of Italy!

Yet, even this formidable creature wasn’t perfect.

Sunlight piercing through the heavens.

The blue light forming the giant dispersed upon contact with the sunlight, revealing its rusted metallic skin underneath.

Like a vampire disintegrating under the sun.

Wherever the sunlight touched, the metal corroded and crumbled into rust.

But given the sheer size of the giant, the crumbling debris didn’t seem threatening enough to counter its enormity.

Shaking the world within the fog, the giant finally emerged fully from the ground and slowly stood upright.

Its form was overwhelmingly massive, warping the perspective of everything around it.

After looking down at the purple reaper, the giant casually swung its enormous foot as if flicking away a pebble.

‘!’

The purple reaper summoned all its accumulated energy to create a shadow barrier, but the giant’s kick shattered it instantly.

The giant’s foot sent both the attached human and the purple reaper flying like golf balls.

“Guh…”

The man groaned softly as he struggled to rise.

Despite being hurled away as if hit by a high-speed train, his condition was surprisingly intact.

Seeing this, the purple reaper smiled faintly.

‘You protected them!’

But before it could finish smiling, streams of crimson-tinged rust spewed from its mouth.

Like vomiting blood.

The golden firewood lodged in its torso flickered dangerously, and its violet skin began rusting into a reddish hue.

‘Shock absorption failed…’

With a regretful expression, it looked up at the attached human.

‘I wanted to keep protecting you…’

‘I wanted to stay with you forever…’

The purple reaper emitted thoughts the attached human would never hear, struggling to focus its fading vision on their face.

***

Late afternoon after lunch at the Sehee Research Institute.

When I brought the somewhat uneasy hungry ghost reaper to the backyard, what I had prepared earlier came into view.

Super Giant Cloud Whale!

It was a massive fusion cloud whale created by gathering all the cloud fish handled by the orange reapers.

This whale was designed to transport large numbers of mini reapers and objects.

Standing before the whale, I noticed countless mini reapers clustered together like grains of rice.

All the mini reapers except those searching for the attached human and guarding the institute were present.

The mini reapers seemed delighted just by being gathered together, rolling around and hugging each other in excitement.

I projected my will toward them.

‘Let’s go kill the harmful object!’

The mini reapers grew ecstatic and responded with ‘Let’s go!’ via their collective will.

It felt like a family outing.

Everyone was excited and buzzing with anticipation.

Even the house-sized white hungry ghost and the hospital-carrying jelly pig joined in, driving the mini reapers into a frenzy of expectation.

But the hungry ghost reaper wore an expression of ‘What strange thing is happening again?’

So I provided additional explanation.

‘A while ago, one of the mini reapers sensed an aura similar to the color universe.’

Nod.

The hungry ghost reaper seemed to understand my simple explanation and nodded.

‘That’s why we’re going to destroy the object from the color universe.’

Nod. Nod.

Apparently, the reaper easily understood my clear explanation.

‘So killing it will resurrect the attachment object.’

‘?’

Unfortunately, it didn’t grasp the last part.

Anyway, I ordered it to follow and loaded it onto the whale.

With a puzzled look, the reaper reluctantly climbed onto the whale’s back.

After completing all preparations, I happily ran over and threw myself into Yerin’s arms.

Yerin, who had been pulled away from her work thinking it was playtime, looked simply happy.

‘Then, let’s go!’

As my will spread, the enormous whale began ascending into the sky.

I started counting the number of children I had brought along.

‘Mini reapers huddled on the cloud whale, confirmed.’

‘White hungry ghost, jelly pig, and bioluminescent tyrannosaurus inside the whale’s belly, confirmed.’

‘Hungry ghost reaper sitting atop the whale’s head with a slightly gloomy expression, confirmed.’

‘Sugar flamingo, hamster, and various other objects released from the mini reaper garden, confirmed.’

‘Three types of halos resting on my hand, confirmed.’

‘The unchanging sphere trailing behind the whale, confirmed.’

Then I turned my head and poked Yerin’s cheek, who was holding me tightly.

Yerin looked confused but smiled back when I gave her a sly grin.

‘Most importantly, Yerin confirmed.’

Perfect.

Since the beings of the color universe aren’t easy opponents, thorough preparation was necessary.

Even if we can’t deploy the mini reaper garden, can’t perform spatial relocation, or summon halos, it’s fine!

We’ve essentially carried the entire mini reaper garden onto the whale.

With these kids by my side, I’m unafraid of any enemy.

Hehe.