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Mini Reaper Garden, deep inside.

This place had transformed into a sort of hospital.

The Black Reapers were bustling about, taking care of Mini Reapers that had turned into Lead Dolls, constantly moving them through the Courtyard of Sehee Research Institute.

While Mom was fighting, the Black Reapers managed to successfully move all the injured Mini Reapers.

However, the Black Reapers could only transfer the Mini Reapers; they had no idea how to treat them.

“What are we going to do!”

The Black Reapers were looking at each other, utterly perplexed.

Suddenly, a Black Reaper who enjoyed watching TV with Mom raised their hand and shouted out an idea.

“Bandages!”

“?”

Many of the Black Reapers didn’t know what bandages were, but soon got the information from one who did.

Then, countless Black Reapers scattered off to get bandages and began wrapping the Mini Reapers up like mummies.

Soon, round balls made of bandages started piling up inside the Mini Reaper Garden.

*

Thud thud.

I walked slowly toward the green jade person, who was muttering to themselves noisily.

Realizing that nothing was working, I hoped they would feel terrified.

The green jade person seemed ominous, but they didn’t look particularly powerful, so they shouldn’t be able to harm me no matter what.

“Return to your true form, Lead Doll.”

With a soft voice, the wave of energy that had subdued the Mini Reapers hit me.

Creeeak. Creeeak.

As my skin transformed back into lead, a sound like an ungreased machine echoed all over my body.

“Return to your true form.”

“Return to your true form!”

“Return to your true form!!”

As I kept approaching casually, the green jade person was releasing waves of energy in a state of utter panic.

No use.

I began burning a large amount of firewood to revert the leaded parts back to their original state.

Then I walked forward again.

Thud thud.

As I got closer, the faint feeling of powerlessness and confusion grew larger.

But it wasn’t over yet.

As much as the Mini Reapers had been tormented, I still had a long way to go before despairing.

While I stacked despair smoothly, the green jade person suddenly changed their attack method.

A massive sphere made of jade.

And the immense power gathering within it.

Anyone who could feel energy would quickly realize the purpose of that sphere.

Widespread destruction.

It was a device meant to kill all the humans around.

Since it was a physical explosion, I had quite a few options to deal with it.

I could isolate the space to block the explosion, or I could summon the Mini Reaper Garden to reverse the explosion.

And there was a method I really didn’t want to use as much as possible.

That method was to use the Halo, which nullifies all abilities.

However, as the explosion prepared faster than I expected, I panicked and ended up using the most certain yet most undesired method.

Once I threw on the Halo, the pain that never became familiar hit me again.

My whole body was on fire, and I felt like I was about to shatter into pieces.

But the effect was certain.

The jade sphere emitted a bright light instead of exploding and remained suspended in the air.

And the explosion that would have erased everything around began to fall like gentle snowflakes over all of Seoul as white flames.

It was a white flame that lacked physical force, so it couldn’t be touched or piled up.

The faintly darkened night sky began to be softly illuminated by the flames falling from above.

“W-why?”

The green jade person was completely flustered at the white flames falling from the sky.

I glared at the green jade person with as much intensity as the pain from the Halo.

*

Seeing my expression, the green jade person took a step back, a bit scared.

Then, trying to shake off the fear, they stepped forward again and began controlling the green jade.

Transforming the jade orb into walls, sending countless beams of light.

Or gathering the green jade and swinging it down like a hammer.

A multitude of various types of attacks flew towards me.

I ignored them with an expressionless face, thinking slightly different thoughts.

The Halo doesn’t erase the abilities that have occurred, it only prevents their use, right?

That green jade person can still use their abilities within the Halo’s field.

Instead, the abilities that occur turn into white flames and are nullified.

What’s the difference?

As I pondered these thoughts, the scale of the green jade person’s attacks gradually grew.

Initially targeting a narrow area for destruction, the beams began expanding, and now they were carelessly bombarding the entire research institute.

Though no attack had managed to overcome my Halo yet, I began to resolve to stop.

Since the Halo wasn’t functioning as I expected, an unexpected situation might arise.

It wasn’t an attack with a high rank like a Giant Jellyfish, but its range of destruction was indeed vast.

Humans can die from very low-ranked attacks.

This isn’t a faraway place like America, it’s near Yerin, so it’s dangerous.

To ensure they couldn’t mess around anymore, I extended my hand and grabbed firmly.

Creeeak.

With that, a sound of hard jade cracking echoed as part of the green jade person disappeared into the space beyond.

Crunch. Crunch.

Every time I clenched my fist tightly, the green jade shattered and vanished.

“No! No, no!”

The green jade person, as if searching for the vanished jade, felt over their vanished wounds.

In an instant, they regenerated, so I thought it was of little value…

Seems like it’s more precious than I thought?

I smiled, pulling my lips up, and kept tearing at the space.

Until the massive green wall standing behind the green jade person vanished completely.

As the green wall disappeared, the green jade person collapsed to their knees as if in despair.

“…”

And like a crazy person, they kept murmuring soundlessly, as if language couldn’t form.

Just as I thought it was time to wrap things up.

A certain being appeared suddenly.

As if it had been nearby all along, without any discomfort.

[Insufficient.]

[Terribly insufficient.]

It was something ominous and grotesque.

Even though it was right in front of me, I could neither feel it properly nor see it well—it was a ghostly presence.

A humanoid monster made up of crushed flesh and ominous red jade.

Looking so ominous that I instinctively used my ‘eyes.’

<■ ■ ■ ■ ■>

But the conditions for its destruction didn’t properly show up in my vision.

*

Not being able to see the destruction conditions.

Up until now, while the conditions for destruction had presented a puzzling aspect, they had also properly revealed the method.

Like the [Nostalgia] of the Steel Tower or the [Object of Beginning] made by the Hungry Ghost.

This was the third time that the destruction conditions had not properly manifested.

The steel tower with changed destruction conditions.

I myself who can’t see the destruction conditions at all.

And lastly, that ominous being whose destruction conditions are concealed by ■.

What should I do about an object whose destruction conditions aren’t visible?

While pondering this and facing off, the situation began to flow strangely.

Munch munch.

I began to hear the sound of something hard being gnawed at.

The bizarre and red entity that seemed like a companion started chewing on the green jade person.

Beginning from the head, methodically.

“W-why?”

The green jade person, with its head caught, wore an expression of disbelief.

“Please forgive me! Oh God!”

At first, the green jade person struggled wildly.

But as more of its head was eaten, the movement slowed until finally, it lay still, not moving at all.

“Save… me.”

In its final moments, it reached out its hand toward me and weakly said to save it.

The green jade person, with only the top half of its head consumed like the monsters that had their brains eaten away, changed as if its soul had departed.

Having eaten something fundamental or essential, it didn’t regenerate and lay sprawled like a jade statue.

[Insufficient.]

[Terribly insufficient.]

The red monster that had eaten the green jade person’s brain muttered while looking at me that it was insufficient.

[I need your blood and flesh.]

Then it began to slowly walk toward me.

Stumbling like a zombie.

Stretching its hand forward slowly.

Moving slowly with a cloudy presence, it suddenly disappeared from my sight.

[Insufficient.]

And then it appeared right behind me with a mutter.

As soon as I felt its grip on my head, I opened my mouth in fear, ready to scream.

“!”

I was so surprised that I even forgot I couldn’t make a sound and almost screamed out loud.

Of course, no sound came out of my mouth, which lacked lungs, and the space control I used in surprise tore apart the surroundings.

But even as the space ripped apart, that monster showed no signs of being hit.

It simply continued to exist there, as if it was a hologram, an illusion, or a figment of my imagination, unbothered by the shattered space around it.

Every technique I could use in my surprise had no effect, except for one thing.

SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1WG1hRUd1NkI5SkNZWUduRHdBMmxPMC9LR1VhRFFobmx6T2x5cW9jRUIwQw

Summon Mini Reaper Garden!

As the garden unfolded beneath my feet, the monster was forcefully pushed out of the space.

Whew, that was a surprise.

With a bit of distance gained, the firewood that had been shaking in shock calmed down a little.

I placed my hand over my heart and took a moment to calm myself down.

Then, I stared at the indestructible monster blankly.

The monster was wandering around as if it couldn’t see me inside the Mini Reaper Garden.

Besides, the monster was moving as if the Mini Reaper Garden didn’t exist.

When walking in from the west of the Mini Reaper Garden, it felt like it was popping out from the east before I knew it.

What on earth is going on?