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Yerin was holding the Gray Reaper and gazing at the red mist beyond the garden.

She couldn’t sense the presence of the Red Monster, but she felt an overwhelming sense that the mist was trying to push its way in here.

‘It looks dangerous.’

As she worriedly stared at the ominous red mist, the Gray Reaper in her arms began to shine brightly.

The Gray Reaper emitted a warm golden light, relaxing its body as if it were asleep, eyes tightly shut.

Thud. Thud.

At that moment, a loud sound echoed from beyond the garden, as if something was being forcefully struck down.

Though the entity making the sound was invisible, the result was clear even to Yerin.

The Red Monster’s hand, striking downwards, wasn’t visible, but a distinct trace of a massive hand-shaped crack was evident in the space.

The boundary that had been separating the red mist from the Mini Reaper Garden began to split and shatter.

‘Is… is it okay?’

As Yerin hugged the Gray Reaper tightly to calm her fear, an endlessly low and heavy vibration reverberated through the air.

Woooong.

Given the situation, that sound could have been perceived as ominous, but strangely, it was also reassuring.

Turning her head toward the source of the sound in the sky, she saw a Giant Black Sphere hovering above her.

[The Unchanging Black Sphere]

It was an object from Yerin’s memory.

The sphere started to rotate slowly.

Its movement was languid, as if waking from slumber.

“!”

In that moment, the boundary of the Mini Reaper Garden completely broke, and the red mist began to surge in.

As the ominous-looking red mist crashed in, Yerin hugged the Gray Reaper tightly, gazing at [The Unchanging Black Sphere] as if entranced.

Then, [The Unchanging Black Sphere] began to spin faster and release intense shockwaves.

Like the morning sun pushing the mist away, the shockwaves from [The Unchanging Black Sphere] prevented the red mist from getting closer.

And the moment the sphere’s rotation sped past a certain point, it burst apart explosively.

From within [The Unchanging Black Sphere], a massive black hand reached out.

With a shadowy texture, the black hand, reminiscent of condensed darkness, savagely tore at [The Unchanging Black Sphere].

Thick black liquid began to pour out from the rips.

With a texture akin to heavy oil, it flowed down in a smooth curve from [The Unchanging Black Sphere] to the ground, spreading across the floor.

In an instant, it transformed the surroundings into a pitch-black puddle.

Soon enough, the Black Reapers gathered around Yerin, bouncing with excited expressions.

‘Strong Mom!’

The moment no more liquid flowed from [The Unchanging Black Sphere], a giant shadow rose from the black puddle.

It was a shape that felt shadowy, lacking any dimensionality.

The lower body was firmly planted in the ground like it had taken root from the puddle.

Long arms reaching down as if to touch the ground.

Eyes shining white.

And three pairs of light rings resting atop the shadow’s head.

It was a shadow that seemed to collect all the darkness and nightmares of the world.

But Yerin strangely felt that this shadow was like the Gray Reaper.

No, she was certain.

‘Wow, it’s a giant Reaper!’

Could it be because of its shining eyes and heart?

Yerin didn’t know why she felt that way, but she could confidently say that the shadow was not harmful.

‘Mom!’

The Black Reapers watched the shadowy monster, so delighted that they were bouncing around in a frenzy.

The shadow slowly looked down at its surroundings like a king.

The threatening red mist that seemed ready to surge in at any moment and the shadow that filled the ground.

The shadow watched this and slowly reached out its hand.

*

I closed my eyes tightly and summoned the giant corpse lying within [The Unchanging Black Sphere], feeding Yerin’s firewood.

Then, [The Unchanging Black Sphere] floating in the garden began to slowly reveal itself above my head.

It appeared hazy at first and then gradually became clearer, as if connecting space to space.

Just by summoning it, the firewood was being consumed at an incredible speed, yet the warm sensation from Yerin in my arms was soothing my heart.

Yerin’s ability to wield firewood had grown strong enough to handle a giant corpse.

I looked up at [The Unchanging Black Sphere] and thought,

‘Is it here, Body?’

Then I started to seriously breathe will into it, shifting my consciousness toward the sphere.

I was able to open my eyes from within the black-filled sphere.

When I had entered the body of the Gray Reaper, the interior of the sphere had seemed endlessly vast, but now it felt incredibly cramped as I looked out through the corpse’s eyes.

An emptiness and silence where nothing could be felt.

Compared to the omniscience encompassing the universe, this space felt pitifully narrow.

If thinking in human terms, this space resembled a prison where one could neither lie down properly, stand up, nor stretch out their arms fully.

Thud.

As I rose from my position, a shockwave resonated as if the space itself were tearing apart.

Then, as I placed my hand on the outer wall of [The Unchanging Black Sphere] and pressed down, the massive body began to flow out gradually.

The sensations that had been confined inside the cramped [The Unchanging Black Sphere] began to spread out into the Mini Reaper Garden.

And when the last piece of the body that had been within [The Unchanging Black Sphere] finally flowed out, the sensations filled the Mini Reaper Garden and started to cover all of Earth.

‘Ah.’

Once again, the omniscience began to spread throughout my body.

And I could feel just how noisy and chaotic the Earth was.

All kinds of desires, passions, and hopes.

All kinds of despair, jealousy, and pain.

It flowed into me like a gigantic current.

Soon, my vision was filled with the gray stream of desire.

In that overwhelming flow, I couldn’t lift a single finger.

In that overwhelming desire, I felt like I might lose myself.

‘What the heck should I do?’

‘What was I even doing?’

In the turbulent gray current, the brightest and whitest flame blazed like a lighthouse.

[Dear Father, I beg you not to turn away from my prayer.]

[Please save my soul.]

It was the clearest and most intense light, serving as a landmark.

Just as I tried to grasp the lantern, a voice echoed.

[Wow, it’s a giant Reaper!]

[Mom!]

There was a golden light, shining warmly.

Grasping that golden flame tightly, I managed to pull myself out of the gray torrent and opened my eyes in the Mini Reaper Garden.

‘Mom!’

The Black Reapers were joyously bouncing around as if they were celebrating.

Yerin, looking at me while firmly holding onto my original body.

And the red mist, undulating as if about to crash in.

Finally, I was clear about where I was standing.

The Black Reapers, so amused that they were going wild, somehow seemed to be frightened when I looked down at them in this body.

When my gaze dropped, they would go into a frenzy again.

Hmm, the Mini Reaper is still too hard to understand.

Yerin seemed to feel that I was the one controlling this body.

As expected of Yerin.

When I turned my gaze toward the red mist, I felt no fear at all.

It had been so threatening.

So powerful.

But now, it posed no threat to me.

Space, dimension, rules, causality.

All of that was just an external being from another realm.

A being that found it hard to stand on this land itself.

I raised both my hands to wipe away the Red Monster and the red mist, capturing the entire space where the Red Monster existed.

The Red Monster struggled desperately, trying to escape.

If it were a simple spatial restraint using the body of the Gray Reaper, it might have quickly slipped away.

But using the corpse for spatial restraint was not just grabbing space, it meant capturing the being itself.

“Hehe, you can’t go!”

Then I began collecting firewood above the halo hovering over my head.

Though it was something I couldn’t do as a Gray Reaper, I somehow felt as if I could.

As I started to gather firewood above the halo, the Black Reapers also took on the shape of the black corpse and began gathering firewood above their heads.

And when that firewood reached a critical mass, it transformed into a radiant white beam that shot toward the Red Monster.

‘Strong Mom Beam!’

‘Mom Beam!’

At the same time, the Black Reapers released a bright, yellow flame as well.

That ray, lacking any physical substance, severed the connection between the Red Monster and Earth, creating a massive hole in space.

Beyond that hole, a world filled with intertwined colors was faintly glimpsed, and the Red Monster and mist began to be sucked into that world.

As the red mist flew beyond the crack, it twisted and contorted back to its original form, like rewinding time.

The Red Monster, with its massive arms, grasped at the air fiercely, trying to resist being pulled in.

[■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■]

It seemed to be shouting something at me with its mouth wide open, but no sound emerged, only unfathomable magic scattered all around.

Even as the Red Monster dug its sharp claws into the space, such resistance could not hold against the pull of the crack.

The space that the Red Monster was holding tore away entirely and began to be drawn into the fissure.

Then, just as the Red Monster vanished to the other side of the space, the crack disappeared.

‘Finally, it’s over.’

Thinking that, I looked down and saw the Black Reapers bouncing around, exuding the will of “We won!”

Now it was time for me to return to my original body.

Just as I turned to return to [The Unchanging Black Sphere],

Thud!

A heavy sound of tearing space echoed.

Once more, space tore away, and the Red Monster’s hand reached out.

One hand grabbed the edge of the crack and tore it apart, while the other hand firmly grasped the corpse’s one arm.

[■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■]

The Red Monster was pouring out magic as if struggling while holding onto my arm.

In that moment, I felt I might be dragged into that space, but the corpse’s hand instinctively moved, tearing the space apart.

In that instant, the Red Monster was helplessly pulled into the other side of the space without the power to resist.

The gargantuan Red Monster being drawn into the gaping tear in space.

The monster kept its eyes on me, refusing to break contact until the crack closed completely.

‘Huff.’

Feeling a sense of exhaustion as most of the firewood was consumed, I looked at the gradually recovering space.

‘Even with Yerin, it seems hard to control it for long.’

Something felt off; the rate of firewood consumption seemed to be increasing strangely.

It felt as if the firewood was gradually flowing away to some other place and disappearing.

And the corpse was starting to act on its own, making it increasingly difficult to control.

‘Well, still, I’ve managed to fend off the ones who came at me targeting me, so that should be a win.’

With a renewed sense of relief, I severed the connection with the corpse while watching the bundle of bandages with legs approach.