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My vision spun around in circles.

The gigantic blade, glowing white, cleaved me in half in an instant.

Though I had lost limbs before, having my body split in two was quite rare.

It was a unique experience.

“Mom!”

Amidst the dizzying blur, I saw my lower half turning to yellow logs and slowly disappearing, while Mini Reapers rushed towards me with startled expressions.

The Mini Reapers clung to my split upper body, repeatedly asking, “Are you okay?”

The Blue Reapers were tearful, continuously weaving strings in the air.

[Please don't be hurt.]
[Heal all the pain, please.]

The Mini Reapers must have known I wouldn’t die from this much, yet they were being overly dramatic.

I tried to quickly heal the wound, but the white flames clinging to the injury were blocking my recovery.

Considering the resemblance of the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s face to that of the White Hungry Ghost, I quickly realized what kind of ability it was.

It was undoubtedly the “White Flames that Burn Objects” used by the White Hungry Ghost when fighting jellyfish.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the blade of the Hungry Ghost Reaper was shimmering with what looked like compressed white flames.

However, it had a density that made it feel more like a coating of light than flames, far exceeding those of the White Hungry Ghost.

It felt similar to a lightsaber often seen in sci-fi.

No, actually, since it was something coating the sword, it was more akin to the blade energy often featured in martial arts novels.

It seemed the White Hungry Ghost didn’t possess the ability to burn physical immunity, but the flames of the Hungry Ghost Reaper effortlessly incinerated and sliced through it.

I wondered if the White Hungry Ghost could learn to wield flames that burn physical immunity with training.

As I pondered this, I kept shoving the logs into the wound, and the yellow flames successfully engulfed the white flames.

As soon as the white flames vanished, my lower half began to regrow.

When I stood up again, I felt the solid floor beneath my feet.

Looking at the Mini Reapers who were celebrating like it was a victory when I got back up, I couldn’t help but smile slightly.

The second round was beginning.

*

Looking down at the tattooed woman who seemed dead with her eyes closed and not breathing, my younger sister was constantly shedding tears.

My older sister had said you don’t die unless you’re beheaded, yet here she was, her torso cut in half and sprawled out as if dead.

“Sis. Sis. Sis. Sis.”
“You’re my salvation. Please wake up.”
“Sis. Sis. Sis. Sis.”
“The only light in this hellish world.”
“My partner in this story from another world.”
“If I hadn’t insisted on going with you, would this have happened?”
“Knowing you couldn’t refuse my request, did you push this through anyway?”

My head was a complete mess.

It felt like my tear ducts had broken, as tears streamed ceaselessly down my cheeks.

While my vision was getting blurry from my tears, a scent reminiscent of sunshine began to waft in from somewhere.

A happy fragrance.

Even though I felt like I could die at any moment, it was a scent that forced my heart to calm down.

It was a fearsome mental pollution, as my sister had said.

When I reached into my pocket, I found a neatly wrapped antidote.

It was the antidote my sister had given me to stave off mental pollution.

And my younger sister simply threw the antidote onto the floor.

“I’m sorry, sis.”

Without the mental pollution, I felt like I might die.

My sister was kind, so I figured she would forgive me.

The Golden Reapers gathered around my sister and started to gently pat her cheek.

It was as if they were saying, “Don’t be sad.”

Then, when my sister looked at the corpse of the woman she was holding, one of the Golden Reapers tilted its head.

Then the Golden Reaper smiled brightly and made a fist.

“It’s going to be okay, so don’t worry!” it seemed to imply.

It was likely a delusion created by foolish hope, but I truly wished it were so.

Perhaps due to the mental pollution, just seeing the Golden Reaper’s bright expression calmed my racing heart, which felt like it was plummeting into a bottomless abyss.

My younger sister held one of the Golden Reapers tightly and started poking its cheeks.

“Will it be okay? It will be alright.”

My sister mumbled to the Golden Reaper, peering at it with uncertainty.

Noddle noddle.

The Golden Reaper shook its head vigorously and smiled brightly.

It was probably shaking its head without understanding what was being said, but it still gave me a sense of reassurance.

It was only now that I noticed the chaotic battlefield through my sister’s eyes.

As the Gray Reaper swung through the air, the space tore apart.

When it grasped the space, black holes seemed to appear, devouring everything in a certain radius.

Whenever a blade hurtled toward me, it would suddenly teleport, leaping from afar.

My younger sister was clueless about the Gray Reaper and other objects.

Still, it was apparent that it had an extraordinary ability, yet none of its significant attacks landed on the Hungry Ghost Reaper.

Though it unleashed large and powerful attacks, it didn’t seem to be in a favorable position at all.

“Can we win?”

My sister’s quiet words echoed softly amid the fierce battlefield.

*

I heard the sound of a massive blade coming for my neck.

Swoosh.

It was a sound so sharp it was hard to believe it came from a heavy blade.

I used teleportation to dodge the terrifying blade that pierces physical immunity.

Reappearing near a Golden Reaper at a proper distance, I clenched my hands and tore through the air.

But the tear in space didn’t reach the Hungry Ghost Reaper and dissipated instead.

Another attack went to waste.

Initially, I had thought the blade that pierced physical immunity was the biggest nuisance, but the real problem lay elsewhere.

It was the ability that made all attacks miss.

Numerous Golden Reapers rushed from all directions to use ghosting overlap against the Hungry Ghost Reaper, but none could reach its side.

I was sure I had jumped straight in, yet somehow I spun off course and ended up passing.

It looked as if the space distorted and went off target, but to me, it seemed unrelated to space at all.

It was truly a mystery, an anomaly, a phenomenon of an unknown object.

Even the perceptive Golden Reapers merely tilted their heads in confusion.

The watery needles launched by the Blue Reapers and even the punches from the Giant Black Reaper all went astray.

Fortunately, I knew the source of that peculiar ability.

Suspended above the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s head was a halo.

That halo was the origin of the ability.

A simple ring of light, much like the “Eyes” used by the Leader.

Not only did it look similar, but the aura radiating from it mirrored that of the Leader’s Eyes.

Since it was “Eyes,” it was an equally bothersome ability as the Leader’s.

If only the solution were similarly simple as that of the Leader, but unfortunately, the destruction condition for the Hungry Ghost Reaper was more direct and straightforward.

If it had been something like “Receive applause from ten thousand people simultaneously,” that would have been manageable.

At least it would have been pleasant if it was like the Leader’s destruction condition of “Retrieve the eye from within the eyes.”

But the destruction condition for the Hungry Ghost Reaper was “Detach the halo.”

For an ordinary object, that would be a clear and simple condition to hope for, but suddenly it became exceedingly difficult in a scenario where I couldn’t even lay a hand on the Hungry Ghost Reaper.

Just then, while the Hungry Ghost Reaper was relentlessly swinging its blade, it abruptly stopped and opened its mouth.

“Kyuu.”

It was a cute cry resembling that of a hungry ghost, but I couldn’t understand it.

And with a peculiar air, the Hungry Ghost Reaper thrust its blade forward and charged, slicing through the air in a beautifully described arc.

Unlike before, it drew a bizarre trajectory that transcended theory.

But I responded by dodging its bizarre sword technique with teleportation.

No matter how superb the martial skills, they couldn’t compare to superpowers.

However, at that moment, something began to scatter from the blade of the Hungry Ghost Reaper.

What flowed out like petals blooming in the air was a tiny hungry ghost made of white flames.

A little hungry ghost with an endlessly small set of limbs attached to its round body.

The space around it was instantly filled with these flame-shaped hungry ghosts.

And the Hungry Ghost Reaper assumed a position as if it were about to strike me down.

“Kyuu.”

In that situation, the Hungry Ghost Reaper let out a soft sound and swung its blade down lightly.

Simultaneously, all the flame-shaped hungry ghosts exploded, starting to rip apart everything around.

Though they appeared small and weak, their destructive power exceeded imagination.

It was far stronger than just being cut by a blade.

My limbs had already burned away.

It felt as if my entire body was ablaze with pain.

In an explosion that left not a single fragment remaining, a painful will was transmitted.

“Mom….”

It was the will of the Mini Reapers caught in the explosion.

At that moment, I caught sight of the water golem protecting the Blue Reapers through my hazy vision.

Most of the water golem that had been shielding the Blue Reapers had evaporated.

And a Blue Reaper, its torso with a large hole, scattered like water mist while looking at me.

Though in pain, it appeared to be okay.

And with that, my last remaining fragment burned away, as my vision turned black.

*

Like a flashbang exploding, white flames erupted from all directions.

The Golden Reapers all turned to white ash and vanished.

My younger sister, convinced she would surely die in the midst of that destruction, tightly shut her eyes.

But when she felt she was still alive and opened them, all she saw was endless darkness.

Only the light from the halo hovering over the Hungry Ghost Reaper floated in the darkness.

As my vision became accustomed to the dark, I began to see the completely shattered reception room.

Only her surroundings were uniquely intact amidst the chaos of the explosion.

Only my younger sister and the older sister she was holding had not been affected by the blast.

It was merely an attack aimed at the reapers.

The Hungry Ghost Reaper appeared extremely fatigued.

At that moment, a little flame began to flicker in one corner of the darkness.

As that red flame grew larger, a sinister aura began to permeate the once-ruined area.

And a black body appeared as if it were quickly engulfing the flames.

It was an object resembling the Gray Reaper, but it had black skin and radiated a red hue.

The black of the object and the red light emanating from within formed a horrifying harmony reminiscent of lava.

Above the ominously pulsing body of the red-black Reaper, a ring of white light began to reveal itself.

It was a halo that projected a clean and white light, contrasting with the ominous red body.

Kuh-gung.

As the halo began to sprinkle its white light, the sound of something breaking echoed, and numerous cracks appeared on the body of the red-black Reaper.

Simultaneously, the face of the red-black Reaper twisted with rage, and it stretched its hand forward.

It executed a gesture similar to the Gray Reaper’s while trying to grasp the space.

Crack.

As the red-black Reaper grasped the space, one arm of the Hungry Ghost Reaper was torn away.

If the Hungry Ghost Reaper had not suddenly been startled and dodged at the last moment, its head would have been lost.

And the red-black Reaper charged at the Hungry Ghost Reaper, red flames pouring from the cracks all over its body.