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The Tower at the End, Top Floor.

A giant spider with a black carapace was continuously spewing out pipes.

‘Building a tower.’
‘Continue, forever.’
‘Until the tower fulfills its purpose.’

The spider, long past its operational deadline, was collapsing.

Its shattered eyes could no longer reflect reality and were showing an ancient past.

All were nostalgic dreams related to the spider’s master.

[Good job. You’ve made a lot today.]
[Oh no. There are no materials left. We need to find some materials somehow.]
[How about today? Carrying the ‘eye’ will be tough, but please hold on a bit longer. I’ll find a solution soon.]
[I found a way. It’s the records of an ancient alchemist who dealt with jade.]
[I’m sorry.]
[I’m really sorry.]

But it was a dream that had fragmented, leaving no coherent memories.

Creeeeek. Creak.

The spider, which had been endlessly producing pipes, suddenly stopped working with a sound like metal grinding.

The halo resting atop the spider’s head flickered like a broken fluorescent light.

And as it began to lose its light, it grew dimmer.

‘Raider….’

Like Icarus flying toward the sun, the spider’s gaze, which had been endlessly stacking toward the sky, turned downwards.

*

An unidentified resort filled with Black Reapers.

I was rubbing the chubby cheeks of a Black Reaper, which seemed to have devoured the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor.

‘Waaah!’

Maybe it was because I had been rubbing for too long, but the cheeks of the Black Reapers who ate the dinosaur armor began to puff up.

They were almost immune physically, yet this could happen.

Hehe.

After enough venting, I released the Black Reapers, and other Black Reapers came rushing in.

‘Puffy cheeks!’
‘Soft and squishy!’

The gathered Black Reapers poked and nibbled at the puffed-up Black Reapers.

From this angle, it was clear that Black Reapers resembled the Golden Reapers.

They just seemed a bit more passive and lacked a bit of vibrancy.

The Black Reapers rolled around happily together, then suddenly gathered around my ankles as if they suddenly remembered something.

‘Mom!’
‘We protected the temple!’
‘We cleaned!’
‘We gathered faith!’
‘Even if no one was here, we kept waiting and waiting!’

Then they began tugging at my toes.

‘Did we do well?’

The Black Reapers clinging to my feet looked innocent yet a bit anxious.

‘Yes, you did well.’

I didn’t know what meaning their actions held, but I praised the Black Reapers one by one.

At that, the Black Reapers melted in gratitude, shedding a tear or two.

‘Hehe.’
‘Mom.’
‘Kind mom.’

Well, even if the dinosaur armor was broken, it wasn’t their fault.

Gathering the Black Reapers and rolling around made me feel a bit at ease.

I could just order James again, so why had I been so anxious?

As I floated above the shimmering water surface, a loud sound echoed.

Beeeeep—!

A sound like the cries of the Black Reapers amplified a hundredfold.

At the same time, a strangely shaped Hungry Ghost began to emerge urgently.

A long-legged, somewhat sad-looking black Hungry Ghost.

It was evidently made from the mass of gathered Black Reapers.

*

The Tower at the End, amidst the rubble of a collapsed building.

The Blue Reaper was looking down at the crumbling Tooth Hungry Ghost.

[Haah. Haah.]

Was it from casting a spell? The Blue Reaper’s chest rose and fell as if it were out of breath.

‘I won!’

Defeating the Tooth Hungry Ghost, an object as powerful as the White Hungry Ghost!

It was an amazing achievement against an opponent the regular Blue Reaper would hardly be able to withstand.

Hehe.

The Blue Reaper was so happy about this that it smiled faintly.

‘And I protected the Attached Human!’

At that moment, a terrible noise began to reach the Blue Reaper’s ears.

‘!!!’

Creeeeek. Creak.

It sounded like a poorly oiled machine straining to move.

Simultaneously, a giant shadow began to slowly cover the ground.

It was the shadow of a spider, huge enough to block most of the sky, though it wasn’t that close.

‘Sun-Eating Spider!’

A spider, enormous as the giant discs that made up each layer, revealed itself.

An object far more powerful than the Tooth Hungry Ghost.

That spider was looking directly down at the Blue Reaper.

‘It’s hostile towards me….’

The Blue Reaper clutched its microphone tightly, looking up at the sky with a tense expression.

The spider that appeared atop the disc looked somewhat broken.

Its black carapace was jagged and cracked all over.

Through the cracks, red flesh burned like magma could be seen.

Mineral-like, unfocused eyes.

Its joints made terrible noise whenever it moved.

It resembled a mother suffering from the side effects of a halo.

Creeeeek. Creak.

It became more damaged as it moved.

As it slowly approached the Blue Reaper, fragments were shattering and falling off.

Thud. Thud.

Those fragments clattered heavily onto the disc.

The Blue Reaper was preparing a spell near the Attached Human while looking up at the spider.

‘It’s incredibly strong. And it looks dangerous.’

The spider had been gazing down at the Blue Reaper for quite a while when, without any forewarning, it suddenly slammed its massive leg down toward the Blue Reaper.

‘!’

[Protect us all, please!]
[An unyielding Water Droplet Shield!]

The Blue Reaper, speaking into the microphone as if singing, conjured a spell.

Boom.

The water droplet that appeared alongside that spell easily blocked even the giant spider’s attack.

‘I’ve grown stronger.’
‘I might be able to win.’

I can protect the Attached Human!

In that moment, as the Blue Reaper wore a confident expression, the halo above the spider’s head began to emit a brilliant white light.

[The Raider will be torn apart by that power.]
[Sunken in darkness like the sun.]
[The blade of silence pierces the enemy.]

Sreeeek.

At that moment, there was the sound of something tearing.

‘Huh?’

Simultaneously, the Blue Reaper’s eyes lost their light, and all sounds in the world vanished.

‘It’s dark. I can’t see. I can’t hear.’

And a moment later, terrible pain came.

The pain of one’s eyes being torn.

[It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.]

The Blue Reaper clutched its eyes and collapsed on the spot.

[Mom…. It hurts too much.]

In darkness, where nothing could be seen or felt, the Blue Reaper sought its mother with a little will.

*

Really, a giant steel pipe tower.

Or should this really be called a tower?

A structure, perhaps a giant staircase made for giants?

Anyway, I was riding on the back of the Black Hungry Ghost and rising rapidly.

The Black Hungry Ghost, formed into a ‘Black Reaper,’ wiggled like an octopus yet was incredibly fast and strong.

Perhaps one step of the Black Hungry Ghost was comparable to my entire day’s worth of steps?

‘The Blue Child is in danger.’

The Black Hungry Ghost wasn’t even thinking about eating my firewood, just hastily moving me along.

Probably meant that the Blue Reaper was in danger.

But even spreading my senses around, I couldn’t feel the Blue Reaper’s location.

I could definitely feel it before, but when did I stop sensing it?

I stood atop the head of the Black Hungry Ghost, feeling a bit anxious.

Looking down from the head of the Hungry Ghost, the tower appeared to extend endlessly upward in a spiral staircase-like structure.

‘Firewood is warm.’
‘Eat it quickly.’

The Black Reapers riding atop the Black Hungry Ghost were encouraging the Black Hungry Ghost to eat the firewood.

How many layers had I jumped over while riding the Black Hungry Ghost?

Just as I could see how massive the spider had become, it was starting to come into view.

In a completely ruined layer, a huge spider object with a halo and the Blue Reaper collapsed, holding its eyes.

‘!’

Using ‘eyes’ to gaze upon that sight, I grinned fiercely.

Before my eyes was the destruction condition of the spider: [Separate the halo.]

The same destruction condition as the Hungry Ghost Reaper.

*

The Tower at the End, in the ruined layer.

This layer lay submerged in endless darkness, without a single ray of light.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the deep darkness filled with grief, a massive vibration sound began to resonate repeatedly.

Yet such violent shockwaves could not break the underground stillness.

At that moment, like a golden dot falling into a sea of darkness, a pinpoint of golden light descended.

It was just a tiny fragment of firewood emitted by the Gray Reaper.

‘Warm.’

But that single light, that single warmth shattered the endless silence.

‘Mom is here!’

A brief shard of will.

The moment that shard of will radiated out, hundreds and thousands of golden eyes opened simultaneously in the dark underground space.

‘Mom!’

And from the underground space, a black current surged up.

It was the dark current of the Black Reapers, buried deeply like oil within the layered underground.

‘Mom is here!’
‘It’s really mom!’

The Black Reapers, awakened from their long slumber, ignored the spider, the halo, the humans, and the surrounding situation.

The only thing in view was one thing.

Mom!

The Black Reapers surrounded the Gray Reaper who felt like their mother in a familiar shape.

‘Little mom.’
‘Is mom still hurt?’
‘Why is she so small?’
‘We need to help mom!’

Thus the Gray Reaper ended up wearing the ‘Black Giant Doll Outfit.’

The sight looked like it was draped in a star-filled night sky.