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Under the beautiful night sky adorned with a bright, shining Milky Way, a fluffy meadow stretched out, covered in plush grass.

The grass beneath was as soft as a luxurious carpet, and even though the night sky was filled only with starlight without a moon, it didn’t feel dark at all.

It was a fascinating space consisting solely of grass and the night sky.

In this space, the Golden Reapers began to appear, sprawled across the meadow here and there.

The Golden Reaper, who had been lying with eyes closed like the dead, sprang to life and struck a ‘Hooray!’ pose as soon as he opened his eyes.

This was the Mini Reaper Valhalla, a temporary resting place for dead Mini Reapers.

Up until today, it had been a meadow exclusively for Golden Reapers who frequently executed suicide attacks.

In the middle of the meadow, two large doors stood open, and beyond one of them lay a bright and warm Mini Reaper Garden.

It seemed that the Golden Reapers had visited more than once; they looked at each other and giggled.

It almost felt like they were saying, “Ah, I’ve died again.”

As the meadow filled with Golden Reapers, quirky Mini Reapers started to arrive one after another.

A Blue Reaper, shivering with a fur hat pulled down low, feeling too cold and in pain.

A Red Reaper, whose expression was one of confusion.

An Orange Reaper, rolling around on the ground with eyes tightly shut like a spinning top.

The Golden Reapers beamed with bright smiles as they rushed toward the Mini Reapers.

Remembering their own chaos when they first died, they rushed to ensure that the new Mini Reapers wouldn’t have a similar experience.

“You’re okay!”

With refreshing smiles, the Golden Reapers conveyed reassuring explanations, providing warm support to the Mini Reapers.

Having escaped the chaos, the Mini Reapers began to gather in a circle atop the meadow, waiting for something.

Even though it was a dull environment with only the sky and the meadow, the Mini Reapers patiently waited.

The moment the Milky Way above formed a circular ring of light, the Mini Reapers got up from their seats and began to run.

“Mom!”

They discovered a Gray Reaper lying flat on the meadow and rushed over in a swarm.

*

It’s cold.

I felt a freezing pain as if my body was freezing from the center.

The cold, as if my flesh was solidifying, spread throughout my body.

Once the chill I never wanted to experience again subsided, I could finally recognize my surroundings.

All I saw was an endless darkness as if dead.

Had there been even a scrap of flesh left, my vision wouldn’t have been drowned by darkness; I could have regenerated.

The world was entirely drenched in darkness, which was a first for me.

Did I die?

I couldn’t be sure since I couldn’t see any destruction conditions.

In hindsight, I should have checked the destruction conditions of the children earlier.

The Golden Reaper was fine, of course, but I felt slightly uneasy about the others.

It was a mistake not to check the conditions of the other Mini Reapers since the Golden Reaper hates looking at destruction conditions.

Now I’m feeling unnecessarily anxious.

My darkness-filled vision began to brighten.

It was like looking up at the sky from deep underwater; light poured down from the surface.

Beyond the distant, round surface, countless Mini Reapers seemed to be gathering.

Golden Reapers, Black Reapers, Blue Reapers, Red Reapers, and Orange Reapers.

All the Mini Reapers I had brought out were there.

Thank goodness.

It seemed the other Mini Reapers’ destruction conditions were set to the destruction of the garden or my death.

If I were to float my body up and surface, I could awaken, but I remained still, submerged in the water.

I had one dilemma.

What to do about the Hungry Ghost Reaper?

Ghosting wouldn’t help, nor would spatial manipulation—it felt hopeless.

It must surely be a power of ‘Eyes,’ but I couldn’t think of a way to reach it.

Ah, if only I could use ability nullification like the Leader, I’d set it ablaze with white flames and beat it senseless!

Imagining pummeling the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s head, I began to smack the water with both hands.

While I was lost in thought, my eyes caught the night sky and the light ring hanging in the sky.

Even though I had seen the light ring many times, it filled me with a strange sense of certainty.

“I think I could wear that light ring on my head?”

As I felt that I might be able to fight the Hungry Ghost Reaper with the light ring, I swam upward to the surface.

The moment I surfaced, a flood of wills surged around me.

“Mom, wake up!”

“Mom, are you hurt?”

The Mini Reapers poked my cheeks with worried expressions, looking down at me.

“Mommy!”

As I rose up, the Mini Reapers burst into bright smiles and clung to me.

“Are you guys okay?”

I expressed concern for the Mini Reapers, and there was a brief silence.

Then they clung to me, saying, “Mommy is so kind!”

Come to think of it, the Golden Reapers had made suicide attacks every time, but they never showed any worry.

They threw themselves into danger with bright smiles, so I had taken it lightly.

The Golden Reapers must have felt cold and hurt too!

Feeling thankful, I pulled all the Mini Reapers into a big hug, expressing my gratitude to each one.

The Mini Reapers smiled widely, as if they had already forgotten the cold and fear.

I still didn’t want to die, but they seemed to find it not scary at all, just smiling cheerfully.

“Then let’s go.”

After petting all the Mini Reapers, I stood up.

Looking at the two large doors before me, I reached for the ‘Eyes’ shining above.

As I did, the eye resembling a light ring fell into my hand like magic.

Seeing the eye shrunk like this, it looked like an angel’s ring.

Raising the angel’s ring over my head, I slowly walked outside through the door.

Back to the place where I had died, and to where the Hungry Ghost Reaper was waiting.

*

Upon crossing the large door and arriving on the battlefield, an unexpected sharp pain engulfed my body.

It felt like red lightning striking in my head.

My whole body felt like it was being torn apart.

My skin darkened, like the Black Reaper I had seen in a dream, and the firewood suddenly began to burn bright red.

The halo was the problem.

It felt like plugging a 110v electronic device into a 220v outlet.

It was as if the circuits were frying like an over-volted electronic appliance.

“Quee.”

Suddenly appearing before me, the exhausted Hungry Ghost Reaper assumed a stance.

I gritted my teeth and reached out, grasping the space around me.

Creeeak!

A loud noise echoed as if the fabric of space was tearing, and the very space began to tremble.

What had once been as easy to grab as pudding was now screaming, caught on something.

It was a clash between the ‘Eyes’ that allowed me to evade all attacks and the ‘Eyes’ that nullified all abilities.

Crunch.

The moment that clash ended, as if a gigantic monster had bitten into it, one of the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s arms was severed.

How do you like that!

I forced a grimace of pain into a smirk.

Now your misfiring abilities have been nullified!

But the Hungry Ghost Reaper remained calm, unfazed by what had just transpired.

And the Hungry Ghost Reaper lunged at me, swinging a massive sword as it sought the opening in my stance.

The Hungry Ghost Reaper, taking advantage of my unbreathing pause, moved in as if it had appeared in an instant.

Yet, I continued to track the trajectory of the attack, standing there with my arms outstretched.

The blade of the massive sword struck my neck but did nothing at all.

There was no severing of my neck, nor did I find myself engulfed by white flames, vanishing.

Well, the white flames of the massive sword weren’t a power of ‘Eyes.’

The radiant light that had torn through my physical immunity lost its glow the moment it touched my body.

“This is what nullification looks like.”

I smirked with a giggle, folding my outstretched arms to embrace the Hungry Ghost Reaper tightly.

I then grasped the space around me, preventing escape.

Avoiding the ‘Kek’ was the best move by holding onto the space like this.

The Hungry Ghost Reaper swung down its elbow, sharpened like a jagged spear, to shake me off but couldn’t breach my physical immunity.

“You can no longer hurt me.”

Fists, feet, and elbows rained down upon my black skin in vain.

Unless it used a special means like spatial cutting, it couldn’t pierce through my physical immunity!

As I distorted the space around the now-flustered Hungry Ghost Reaper, it didn’t stop struggling to escape.

Creeeak!

The clash of powers, which could be called divine, created a tremendous noise.

The shockwaves from the colliding force spread out, and the surrounding space trembled like waves in the wind.

Even amidst the warped space, the Hungry Ghost Reaper didn’t falter, thrashing around to break free.

Using its arms and legs to strike, it even tried to bite with its mouth.

It was a desperate struggle.

But the moment the shrieking noise ceased, a massive explosion sounded.

Crash.

And as the sound of the explosion faded, a serene silence began to flow.

The very fabric of space was cracked like shattered glass, and in the center stood the Hungry Ghost Reaper, staring up at the ceiling.

And that Hungry Ghost Reaper wore a faint smile.

It appeared so out of place with the fury and ferocity it had displayed moments before.

As if expressing relief.

And wearing a look of nostalgia.

It looked incredibly tired but wore a peaceful smile.

In its final moments, the Hungry Ghost Reaper looked down at me with teary eyes.

“Quee.”

At that moment, the space began to warp.

The Hungry Ghost Reaper’s body shattered like glass, vanishing into the other side of space.

As the broken space reverted to normal, only the remains of the Hungry Ghost Reaper were left where the fierce clash had occurred.

A halo, softly glowing, floated in the air.

[Separating the halo.]

To satisfy this destruction condition, I slowly reached toward the halo.

As my hand broke through the halo’s warm light, touching that ‘Eye,’ a sudden reaction occurred.

The moment they made contact, waves of light spread outward, and the power bound to the halo was released, sending intense flashes toward the sky.

And thus, the halo vanished.

The destruction condition had been fulfilled.

The moment I defeated the Hungry Ghost Reaper who had caused me great hardship, I threw the halo from above my head.

The halo, now sprawled on the ground, transformed into a flash and shot into the sky, and my once blackened skin returned to its original color.

It was finally over!

I reveled in the feeling of relief and called out to the Mini Reapers.

“Mommy is strong!”

“Strong!”

Hearing the Mini Reapers’ praises, I lay back on the ground, and they all clambered atop my belly, rolling around happily.

By the way, what was the smile the Hungry Ghost Reaper showed in the end?

It felt like a smile tinged with unfortunate longing, leaving an unexpected mark in my heart.