At the Tower at the End, the Blue Reaper encountered a Giant Spider consuming the sun and was instantly sucked into an abyss of deep, endless darkness.
It seemed as if everything around had vanished.
All senses—sight, hearing, touch—were paralyzed, leaving only the sharp pain in both eyes to prove the Blue Reaper still existed.
“Sorry… I’m so sorry…”
In the Blue Reaper’s heart, voices of regret and self-blame echoed.
“If I die here, the Attached Human will die too…”
The crushing weight of failing to protect the Attached Human they had strived to guard filled the Blue Reaper with despair.
The flames of firewood burning deep within their chest began to weaken.
“At least… if it ends like this, maybe I’ll end up in the same place as the Attached Human.”
As the positive emotions tied to the firewood faded, the Blue Reaper instinctively sought faint comfort.
There was no ‘Mom’ in this distant otherworld to keep them from dying.
If they perished here, not even Mini Reapers could enter the Mini Reaper Valhalla.
“Cold…”
As the warmth of the firewood disappeared and icy chills spread through their body, the Blue Reaper instinctively curled up.
Then, something unexpected happened.
The cold darkness surrounding them receded, replaced by a warm energy that enveloped the world.
Someone gently embraced the Blue Reaper, sharing their warmth.
“Mom…?”
Overwhelmed with disbelief, the Blue Reaper weakly expressed their astonishment at this unbelievable reality.
And when that warmth reached their eyes, the pain that had been felt just moments ago magically disappeared.
Opening their eyes cautiously, they saw Mom standing there with an expression as fierce as when the Tyrannosaurus broke.
“Mom is strong.”
Mom’s very presence seemed to dominate this space.
Reality warped and reconstructed itself with every movement of her hands.
Space twisted when she clenched her fists, and the ground split when she swung her arms.
It was sheer brute force without any special techniques, powered solely by immense firewood.
“It really is Mom. She’s here.”
Flooded with relief, excitement, and an indescribable sense of safety, the Blue Reaper clung closer to Mom’s embrace.
With all fear and anxiety gone, the Blue Reaper slowly drifted into a deep sleep.
A small but distinct smile graced their sleeping face, peaceful and worry-free.
At the Tower at the End, among the completely ruined layers…
There lay the Blue Reaper, clutching their eyes, a pink-haired human, and a spider wearing a Halo.
Is that the Blue Reaper’s Attached Human?
I stored the pink-haired girl inside the Black Hungry Ghost while cradling the injured Blue Reaper.
“Must hurt so much…”
The Blue Reaper’s eyes showed unnatural cracks as if space itself had been sliced.
Seeing those wounds made me strangely angry.
Even though I knew feeding them firewood would heal them instantly…
“[Mom…]”
Before long, the now healed Blue Reaper looked up at me with sleepy eyes, grinned foolishly, and snuggled back into my embrace before falling asleep again.
I lightly tapped their forehead before turning my gaze toward the spider wearing a Halo.
The Halo-clad spider remained motionless, staring blankly at me.
Are you examining me?
Or are you waiting for your chance because I look strong?
Doesn’t matter either way.
Examining the spider closely, it appeared dangerously fragile, as if it could collapse at any moment.
From my “eyes,” that’s how it looked.
In the next instant, its state seemed critical enough that shattering into pieces and dying wouldn’t be surprising.
“Still pretty strong though.”
If its body were intact, it might have been as powerful as a Hungry Ghost Reaper, perhaps?
While continuously feeding firewood to the Blue Reaper, I extended one hand toward the spider and clenched my fist.
“…”
This caused a black sphere to appear, warping space and beginning to consume everything around it.
An effective means against most enemies, containing endless void within its core.
However, as the Halo on the spider’s head began to emit light, the situation changed.
“Spatial distortion does not reach this land.”
The spider produced a command similar to the Blue Reaper’s magic.
Reality returned to normal, and the black sphere disappeared instantly.
Another Halo like the Blue Reaper’s that can achieve desired outcomes through language?
Annoying.
I wildly slashed through space with one hand.
Kiiiaaaak!
Wherever my fingers moved, space tore apart with tearing sounds.
The five finger trails seemed to tear through the sky and threaten to devour sturdy structures.
“Spatial distortion does not reach this land.”
But the moment the spatial cuts manifested, they transformed into golden firewood scattering everywhere.
It looked like golden petals fluttering in the ruins, ready to collapse at any moment.
“!”
So then…
I bounced twice on my feet to summon the Mini Reaper Garden.
“No one may enter or exit this land.”
Though the entrance to the Mini Reaper Garden opened, the Mini Reapers couldn’t come out.
“Mom is calling!”
On the other side of the Mini Reaper Garden, Golden Reapers kept running forward, smashing their heads against the transparent barrier and falling over repeatedly.
Spatial cuts don’t work.
Can’t call the Mini Reaper Garden either.
Then, can I summon Halos or Unchanging Spheres?
While I was pondering these things, finally, the spider started moving.
Kiik. Kiik.
Making noises like an old machine, the spider looked up at the sky and began producing commands.
“The space containing you is severed.”
“You cannot escape in this land.”
Commands targeting me specifically.
Space sharply cut away in all directions.
But each time the spider uttered a word, it crumbled further.
Burnt black shards fell off the spider’s surface, shaking the ground violently.
And I too was being cut into pieces by the spatial cuts.
Fortunately, thanks to Yerin making me “[Term]” and having plenty of firewood, regeneration wasn’t a burden at all.
And the spider was shrinking each time it attacked, creating commands to attack me.
The problem was that the spider was so huge it would probably take years to whittle down completely.
So while regenerating, I kept repeating sad thoughts.
“The Tyrannosaurus died.”
“The Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor broke.”
“All the Tyrannosauruses started growing feathers.”
I kept repeating these thoughts.
For one purpose only:
To bring out the “Halo of Seeing Death” hidden in my heart.
Spatial Cuts.
Mini Reaper Garden.
Halo Summoning.
Unchanging Sphere Summoning.
None of these worked, leaving only the Halo in my heart as my last option.
Be sadder.
I’m sad.
I’m angry.
No matter how many anger-inducing scenarios I imagined, the Halo showed no signs of appearing.
Just as time flowed meaninglessly, a change occurred.
The ground began shaking violently, like an earthquake.
Kwaang!
The floor burst open, and a black current of the Black Reaper surged forth, covering the entire layer.
“Mom is here!”
“The real Mom!”
It was the fluid form of the Black Reapers, with countless eyes dotted like stars in the night sky.
This current began pouring down toward me.
“Mom has shrunk.”
“Is Mom still in pain?”
“Why so small?”
“I need to help Mom!”
The Black Reapers swarmed around me, wrapping me in a bizarre doll costume.
Uncomfortable.
With 99% of my vision blocked, it felt like wearing glasses with only a pinhole left.
When I tried escaping using spatial movement, I felt an odd sensation.
Like becoming one with the Black Reapers.
Firewood began circulating slowly through the connected network of Black Reapers.
It felt like wearing the body of a Black Giant.
“So this is why the Black Giant ate the Black Reapers?”
Now I might be able to fulfill my little wish.
The spider continued producing commands to exclude the intruder.
“The space containing you is severed.”
“You cannot escape in this land.”
Suddenly, fragments of a god emerged from underground and began forming a massive shape.
A god-like figure.
A presence akin to a true deity.
No, it couldn’t be a god.
Because the gods are dead.
Yet the dark mass kept growing larger.
With so many fragments gathered, it had grown almost as large as the spider itself.
Remaining unmerged fragments still lay scattered on the ground.
But the spider continued moving despite seeing this.
Kiik. Kiik.
Looking up at the sky, it spat out commands.
“Space is being severed.”
“You can no longer escape.”
A spatial cut large enough to bisect the entire layer.
But the spatial cuts dissipated harmlessly upon reaching the enemy.
Its appearance was godlike.
And the massive divine figure turned its head toward the spider.
Though the figure had grown so large that the “gray face” had become just a gray dot on its face, it wore a bright smile.
Opening its mouth, it fired an extremely delighted-looking Magic beam.
[Gray Reaper Beam!!!]
Instantly, the countless eyes embedded in the figure awakened.
Golden rays erupted from each eye, dancing in the air like living creatures.
These beams of light converged toward each other, forming a giant wave of light that began surging toward the spider.
Even the numerous fragments scattered on the ground were no exception.
Each tiny fragment emitted golden sparkles, rising like fountains from underground toward the spider.
The descending cascade of light from above met the ascending fountain of light from below, creating a whirlpool.
The surroundings became completely filled with light, leaving nowhere to escape.
Straining its creaking body, the spider managed to produce one final command.
“In this land, light does not reach.”
“Light fades, and endless darkness shall come.”
Commands to erase and block the light.
But the brilliant beams of light ignored these commands and mercilessly pierced through the spider.
“Ahhh…”
Only then did the spider finally realize.
The power of death.
Evidence of the gods.
The divine power contained within the beams of light.
As this power began breaking down its body, it could feel the Halo peeling away.
Once something that relentlessly consumed the spider’s existence, now this damaged Halo was barely keeping the spider’s existence intact.
And it was peeling away.
“The gods have returned.”
“Master, has this tower fulfilled its mission?”
Struggling to recall the face of their long-forgotten master, the spider slowly closed its eyes.
