---

The crumbled buildings and collapsed roads formed the backdrop for a fierce battle taking place amidst the ruins.

It was a clash of mini reapers, no larger than a palm, fighting against giant objects that killed people.

These mini reapers, remarkably resembling the gray reaper, were scurrying around the badly broken streets, engaged in combat.

The gray reaper who had brought the mini reapers was nowhere to be seen.

The opponents of the mini reapers were grotesque objects capable of slicing through reinforced concrete like cake.

Who would have thought so many of these objects were hiding in our city…?

Despite the catchphrase of being a safe city with almost no object incidents, these monsters were popping up from all directions.

The golden mini reapers, showing no fear, recklessly charged at these vicious objects.

They dashed through the dust and acrid smoke-filled ruins, continuing their battle against the horrible objects.

The smoke-filled battlefield made it hard to grasp the situation, but surely the mini reapers were at a disadvantage.

Above, the blue reapers soared through the sky, tracing erratic flight paths.

They sprayed fine mist to douse fires and created water droplet shields to protect people from danger.

And around us, the refugees were surrounded by large marshmallow chunks.

These adorable masses provided soft cushions for the refugees and blocked incoming rocks with their bodies.

Beyond the smoke, the sound of a blade being sharpened on a whetstone continued to echo.

I had seen the blade swing and tear a bus apart alongside that sound, sending chills down my spine.

Thud.

With a heavy impact sound, something golden fell from the sky.

Zing.

The golden reaper that had flopped and flailed mid-air fell right into my outstretched palm.

The golden reaper, flailing its limbs with a puzzled expression on my hand, met my gaze, stopped thrashing, and smiled shyly.

Is this little kid fighting for us?

Once I realized that, my fingers were somehow petting the head of the golden reaper.

The golden reaper, who had been smiling sheepishly, changed its expression to serious and jumped back into the smoky, fierce battlefield.

“Hang in there, Golden Reaper!”

*

Beyond the smoke that people couldn’t see.

The golden reaper, giggling with a bright smile contrasting the environment filled with ash and dust, dashed around.

In stark contrast, a giant object swung its scythe wildly, causing chaos.

Yet, it was not the palm-sized golden reaper that was getting ravaged, but rather the giant objects fighting against it.

From the perspective of the golden reapers, the battle looked more like a playful game.

However, for the harmful objects threatening humans, it was a life-and-death situation.

Even after rolling around, clobbered by the scythe that sliced through rebar with ease, the golden reapers laughed as if they were enjoying themselves.

Some golden reapers clung to the blades swung by the objects like cicadas.

With their hair blowing in the wind like they were riding amusement park rides, the golden reapers wore joyful expressions.

The only rule of this playful amusement park was one.

Don’t approach the people outside this smoke-filled playground.

Objects that broke this rule were left rolling on the battlefield with countless holes shaped like golden reapers, like a sponge.

*

I was clearly standing on a demolished road with the ruined city as the backdrop!

Yet before I knew it, the surroundings had transformed into an unfathomable place with blood pooling up to my ankles.

It felt like I had entered another world.

The sticky, heavy red sky had replaced the blue one.

The thick, crimson liquid covering the ground gave off a strong metallic scent, reminding me that I was indeed in a bizarre space filled with blood.

It wasn’t hot, but the blood seemed to be bubbling like boiling water, evoking an absurd disgust.

The golden horn reaper that had been sleeping on my palm awoke, looking tense as it clung to my horn, surveying the surroundings.

From the dark red sky, drops of blood fell like a light drizzle.

In the endless tide of boiling blood, a chunk the size of a child rose up, forming a grotesque shape.

The limbs and features were mashed and mixed together in a nightmare-like way.

It didn’t resemble the gray reaper at all, but depending on the angle, the bizarre shape could be mistaken for a gray reaper.

Indeed, it was a distorted gray reaper!

And the bloated chunk that had surged up whispered in a tiny voice that was hard to understand.

[Humans have killed the gods. And now they need them again.]

[The gods were cruel, but they protected humans.]

Though it was a very small voice, it felt distinctly like it was speaking directly into my ear.

[Humans have killed the gods. And now they need them again.]

[The gods were cruel, but they protected humans.]

It sounded like a language, yet I couldn’t comprehend it at all.

An unfamiliar intonation and phonation.

But the gray reaper seemed to intuitively find it troublesome to understand.

It wasn’t that it didn’t know the content; it just seemed annoyed by the effort to understand it.

The seemingly annoyed gray reaper spread its arms wide and clenched its tiny fists.

As if the space was crumpling in, the gray reaper started swinging its arms.

Suddenly, the red sky split apart, and the blue sky began to fill the gap.

The blood rising from the ground was also sucked into the void like it was being torn apart.

However, the torn space was immediately filled with a dire red color, and within the boiling blood, distorted blobs began to surge once more.

*

The distorted chunks made of blood just continued to repeat the same sounds.

Did they keep repeating those words because they had something to say?

How annoying.

Repeating incomprehensible sounds only adds to the annoyance…

Fed up and tired of hearing it anymore, I decided to tear apart the space.

The red sky was ripped apart, and the strange, rambling blood blobs were shredded as well.

But in an instant, the sky was red again, and the blabbering blood blobs rose once more.

Indeed, it seemed that the enigmatic objects had destruction conditions that became meaningless if unable to meet them.

I scanned the surroundings with my ‘eyes.’

The destruction conditions for this space were [Depletion of energy or destruction of the main body.]

A choice condition.

Fortunately, both were methods I could attempt.

It was better to look for the main body first than to risk exhausting energy, which would clearly consume a lot of firewood.

I wished the main body was nearby…

As I activated my ability to find the main body, my antennae above my head flickered softly and gently, leaving traces of light towards the north.

As my antennae illuminated the direction of the main body, I felt someone wanting to look at me.

Once he gazed at me, I could look back at him.

On the edge of my vision, a dark forest appeared.

In the middle of the woods stood a solemn man, framed by a towering steel tower.

His face was unclear, and he led a group of vintage lamps.

The flickering light from the many lamps cast his shadow that danced about.

His face was hazy, yet his gaze was intensely fixed on me, as if piercing through me.

As our eyes met, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.

As we exchanged glances, the man’s lips slowly parted, and an unfamiliar language flowed out.

It was an incomprehensible language, but there was one word I managed to understand.

[You haven’t changed.]

As the man spoke those words, the world began to collapse.

The blood-shedding sky and the strange-sounding blobs started to disintegrate like dust.

Along with him, the gas lamp that was crumbling.

The gas lamp turned to gray ash and scattered away, as if it had lost its source of power.

At the same time, the antenna that had previously pointed north began to shake, unable to find its path.

Clearly, the antenna that had been pointing at the steel tower had lost its direction.

Despite feeling I had heard many meaningful stories from this vaguely familiar man, my sentiment was one.

How annoying.

The one who likely created Watson must be that man too, and when I see Watson next time, I should ask him to call for that man.

As the space filled with blood crumbled away, the desolate ruins revealed themselves once more.

In essence, we had finally eliminated the root cause of this incident.

The lamp man?

I’ll have to meet him directly later and think it over.

*

Even though objects suddenly appeared and the city collapsed, time continued to flow.

As the chilly night air settled, the hearts of the urban residents who had lost their homes froze.

“Hah, what on earth are we supposed to do now?”

Someone’s sighing voice and words reflected everyone’s sentiments.

Perhaps because the city was recognized for self-governance by the government, or due simply to a lack of personnel, there was no support at all.

Huddling under a dust-covered cloth, the night air remained cold.

At that moment, a huge fire erupted in the middle of the ruins.

A towering flame, like a massive campfire, warmed the surrounding air.

What could it be?

With curiosity, the source of the flame turned out to be a giant marshmallow.

Kyu…

It was the gray reaper who had placed the giant marshmallow object atop a tree and ignited it.

As pixie-like blue reapers flew about sprinkling sparkles, the anxious hearts began to feel a little more at ease.

[Don’t worry too much!]

[Something good will surely happen!]

People momentarily forgot their pain and gathered around the campfire.

Sipping warm hot chocolate, they warmed themselves by the golden reaper and the campfire.

They managed to forget their anxieties and momentarily fight off the cold.