Chapter 345

At night in the Seodaemun District, the sky was filled with golden light.

Unlike the usual tranquil darkness, the sky was brimming with a vibrant feast of light, as if it were alive and breathing.

The spectacle created by the massive amount of firewood soaring into the sky, many times more than Yerin could ever gather, resembled a blazing sun rising in the middle of the night.

That aurora made of firewood seemed alive, its beams flickering like dancing flames.

As the curtain of light enveloped the sky, the ruins below were swallowed by its shadows.

The shadows swayed ceaselessly like the waves of the sea, making the collapsed buildings appear as though they were breathing.

Even the stars and moons that had adorned the night sky moments ago were now hidden, their glow obscured by the intense golden light.

I teleported to the center of the aurora and grabbed the Golden Horn Reaper, who seemed to be the cause of this chaos.

“It’s been a while.”

I squeezed the squishy horns of the mischievous Golden Reaper I hadn’t seen in ages, enjoying their jelly-like texture.

They looked hard but felt soft and addictive to the touch.

When I pressed his horn, the Golden Horn Reaper tilted his head back and giggled.

“Did you make this firewood aurora?”

Upon asking about the aurora filling the sky, the Golden Horn Reaper nodded and chuckled.

After giving him a good knock on the head, I placed the Golden Horn Reaper atop mine alongside another.

The two then cheerfully grabbed my antennae as if they were ride handles.

“Well then, let’s go. With this much firewood, we can do anything, absolutely anything.”

Looking at the Old God disguised as a man, who appeared bewildered by the sight of the aurora, I proceeded to move.

***

Late at night, at the Sehee Research Institute.

Yerin was hugging a bunch of Golden Reapers while attentively watching TV.

The Golden Reapers gazed blankly at the ceiling above, emitting faint golden lights from their bodies.

Unlike their usual soft golden glow, these lights spread out like cotton candy.

Some Golden Reapers were playing with their hair, twisting and shaping it into horns pointing towards the sky.

Once they finished styling their hair using their hair-moving abilities, they poked Yerin’s cheeks, seemingly asking for approval.

“You look great. So cute.”

Yerin smiled at their appearance and took out star-shaped candies she always carried to praise them.

On TV, a live broadcast showed scenes from Seodaemun District where space seemed to warp like a movie scene, shockwaves swirling everywhere.

“The reaper looks so painful… Is he going to be okay?”

Even Yerin, who thought Gray Reapers were invincible, became anxious at the ongoing events.

At that moment, the live feed turned completely golden.

“Now, over Seodaemun District, a golden aurora has appeared.”

“The aurora quickly expanded its reach and is said to have filled the entire Seoul sky.”

As the anchor spoke, the drone camera pointed upwards, capturing the magnificent aurora lighting up the heavens.

“Wow.”

Realizing the resemblance, Yerin lifted a Golden Reaper to compare it with the TV screen.

“They’re identical!”

To Yerin, the wavy mist-like glow surrounding the Golden Reapers perfectly matched the aurora.

Wanting to compare directly, she looked around but remembered there were no windows in the isolation room.

Even the chaotic Sehee Research Institute wouldn’t leave windows in an isolation chamber.

Hastily gathering the Golden Reapers on her head and shoulders, and holding the rest in her arms, Yerin exited the isolation room.

Upon reaching the courtyard of the Sehee Research Institute, she saw the aurora filling the sky.

It felt familiar, reminiscent of the Gray Reaper’s eyes or the Golden Reaper.

While Yerin stared at the sky, other employees of the Sehee Research Institute began gathering in the courtyard.

Each employee held a Golden Reaper, who clung tightly to their “attached human” while gazing dreamily at the sky.

***

The man with a halo was transfixed by the golden aurora.

To him, it resembled prayer but was something entirely different.

Compared to prayers, it felt lighter and weaker in energy.

“So this is what that girl called ‘different’ prayers…”

He recalled an old conversation with her.

An ancient discussion about positive and negative emotions.

Desires, born from lack, used negative emotions as fuel for men like him and the alchemists.

And the blue-haired girl who opposed it endlessly.

Just then, as a gray reaper slashed through space toward him, the man quietly fed his wish to the fragment of a god.

“Alright, let’s continue the long-finished debate. I’ll show you the true nature of desire.”

As he spoke, a wave rippled from the glowing halo, but the result was unexpected.

The golden spatial cut, filled with golden light, remained unbroken despite the interference from the halo, slicing through space.

Though it couldn’t pierce the infinitely layered dimensions, defeating the halo alone was surprising enough to astonish the man.

“The fragment of a god… lost to a wish?”

Surprised but experienced in combat, the man didn’t hesitate and immediately counterattacked.

Lifting his arms, which had been hanging loosely, he began manipulating space.

The space around the gray reaper separated into cubes before twisting into spirals.

But golden flames erupted over the spiraling space, shattering it like glass crafts with a cracking sound.

“This is… absurd…”

As the fragment of a god and the halo of space brightly illuminated, the space warped but was incinerated by the golden flames.

This repeated again and again.

“How can a force without direction or change…”

It was a tremendous shock, akin to the world he knew collapsing.

Suddenly, a blinding flash filled his vision.

***

Looking up at the sky, streams of firewood sent by mini reapers worldwide flowed.

Normally, firewood dissipates like perfume sprayed into the air, but seeing them gathered so densely felt strange.

“Finally, this feels like a fair fight.”

While the opponent uses earth-scale flowing wishes, I’ve only been using the firewood stored in my body, which felt highly unreasonable.

With all this firewood, the fight became much more balanced.

“Still can’t break through the barrier protecting that guy…”

Even with firewood-filled spatial strikes, it remains uncut, leaving me at a loss.

Is it time to summon the Black Giant?

Just as I prepared to summon the giant after burning away the enemy’s attacks with firewood, the Golden Cloaked Reaper atop my head started pulling my antennae.

“Mom, I have an idea!”

“Really?”

But solutions from Golden Reapers are usually as incomprehensible and impractical as First Sword’s swordsmanship lessons.

However, this one was surprisingly simple and easy, even for me.

“Gather maximum firewood into your fist and punch!”

It required no delicate senses or athletic skills, which pleased me greatly.

Especially since handling large amounts of firewood is my unique advantage over mini reapers.

“Gathering firewood.”

Clutching my fist with all my might, I channeled the firewood within my body.

My body gradually turned golden, and a brilliant sun formed in my fist.

The leaking firewood alone whipped up gales, turning the surroundings into a fiery ocean.

The Golden Reapers clinging to my antennae were swept away by the backlash.

“Gathering firewood into my fist.”

I slowly pulled back my fist.

The man with a halo attempted to use space manipulation to stop me, but it was all consumed by the firewood gales.

“Keep gathering until you reach your limit.”

Now, all the auroras in the sky began being sucked into my fist.

Like the sky itself being drawn in, the auroras swirled and surged toward me.

After absorbing all the auroras, the once-bright sky was now contained entirely within my fist.

Slowly swinging my gathered fist forward, the firewood transformed into a streak of lightning accompanied by a storm.

The enemy was pierced.

***

A flash.

It was a momentary burst of light.

Simultaneously, the man clearly felt his defeat.

The orb attracting wishes.

A large orb in his core had a hole punched through it and began slowly breaking apart.

This caused him to lose control over the wishes obeying his commands.

The wishes started moving erratically.

The grips supporting his body and infusing it with wishes began tearing him apart and dragging him into the ground.

They were truly greedy grips.

Something he’d never seen before.

“My body feels so heavy.”

Too heavy to even look up at the sky.

“I wanted to take one last look at the sky…”

As he was torn apart and sucked into the flow of wishes, he recalled the memory of a certain girl.

An extremely old, very ancient memory.

From the days spent together before the academy closed.

“It wasn’t like this back then…”

Regretting deeply, he was consumed by the flow of wishes.