The Giant of Annihilating Evil realized too late.
He shouldn’t have lost to his anger and charged in on impulse.
“Goddess!”
The Giant of Annihilating Evil spoke toward the star.
He begged the blackened goddess.
Please, calm down.
Please, return to how you were.
‘…The eye of Goddess Pina.’
The Giant of Annihilating Evil saw the eye that existed at the center of the black hole.
The twin goddess, Rhea’s younger sister, Pina.
Why had her eye, also called the Goddess of the Sky, fallen here?
Why was it stained by evil, why was it being toyed with by evil!
—Krrr… Hahahaha!
Ahram sneered at the Giant of Annihilating Evil.
No matter how you struggle, you can’t stop this explosion.
I’ll take all the star guardians with me.
—What…?
But Ahram’s mockery didn’t last long.
Because he felt it.
Something was approaching.
Instinctively, he knew.
That he absolutely had to avoid that “something.”
Scary, terrifying.
He couldn’t understand why he, the king of hell, was feeling this way.
What was clear was this, he had to avoid it.
—Let go…!
It was approaching slowly.
Because it wasn’t fast despite how dangerous it felt, avoiding it should have been easy, but the problem was that the Giant of Annihilating Evil was holding Ahram in place.
Ahram struggled.
Because he instinctively knew that if that “something” hit him, it would be the end.
It was so terrifying that he’d rather self-destruct and vanish.
He had to avoid it.
He had to run!
But he couldn’t avoid it, he couldn’t run.
The Giant of Annihilating Evil made it so Ahram couldn’t move an inch.
What he’d done to self-destruct ended up trapping his own ankle.
Chwaak!
And then, Ahram understood.
What had touched his forehead.
That he was being “sealed” by that “something.”
Ahram carefully rubbed his forehead.
This thing fitted on his head was a sealing circlet.
Unfathomably powerful.
Powerful enough to bind even the king of hell.
But such a sealing circlet wouldn’t be common.
And Ahram had seen a circlet like this before.
Long ago.
In the distant ancient past.
The object that had sealed a being closest to a god.
—G, Golden Fillet…?
It was the legendary sealing circlet, Golden Fillet.
He couldn’t use strength.
Mana wouldn’t obey.
It felt as if his body wasn’t his own.
“Move aside, caw.”
His body moved on its own.
Ahram couldn’t help but be horrified.
A corpse crow had appeared before him.
And it wasn’t a simple corpse crow.
The memories read from the stars, and his own soul, knew that crow.
A name he had to kill, and wanted to kill.
‘Knight King Wilhelm…!’
…The Demon Realm’s natural enemy, Wilhelm.
But now he couldn’t even speak.
He couldn’t do anything.
‘Even if you bind me, you won’t be able to stop the star’s rampage!’
Ahram laughed.
You idiot.
No matter how you restrain me with Golden Fillet, the blackened star won’t return.
The star’s rampage was still progressing.
“Annoying, caw.”
“…Who are you, you bastard?”
The Giant of Annihilating Evil.
He too was flustered.
Ahram had suddenly been sealed, and in between, a corpse crow had appeared.
A mysterious corpse crow that erased a unique-grade mystery, and even sealed Ahram.
“Lose some weight, caw. What is that body, caw.”
“You’re telling me, to lose weight…?”
There was no being in this world reckless enough to tell the Giant of Annihilating Evil to lose weight.
Because they were all dead.
If they said that in front of him, they’d disappear whether they existed or not.
“Is this the goddess’s star, caw?”
The corpse crow spoke as if he didn’t care much.
Once Ahram was sealed, the rampaging black star separated from his body.
The Giant of Annihilating Evil clicked his tongue.
“So you came here to die, you idiot. You could’ve fled with the White King.”
“If I calm this star down, isn’t that enough, caw?”
“Even the star guardians can’t do that. If a cursed crow like you touches a holy star, you’ll burn up on the spot.”
I’ve heard that line before.
When I first met Dramut and picked up Wilhelm’s star that had fallen, he said something like that too.
“I told you to move, caw.”
“……”
The Giant of Annihilating Evil slightly lifted his body, as if saying, go on, try it.
When the Giant of Annihilating Evil moved aside, a black zone like a black hole was revealed.
If you touched it, you’d be sucked in, or, as the giant said, burst into flames.
But I unhesitatingly reached my hand toward the rising, rampaging black star.
‘You were looking for me.’
And the moment I touched the star, I knew.
This was the star that had kept searching for me.
From the hot spring.
No, from far earlier.
The eye of Goddess Pina looked at me.
“Mm…!”
Then Goddess Pina’s memories began to flow into my head.
***
Knight King Wilhelm.
He was captured by the Demon King.
Because he truly was a being who had not received the Star’s Blessing.
He was a great hero who had reached that place alone without the goddess’s help, but the Demon King was a being that could not be annihilated without the goddess’s divine right.
“A monster of a man. To push me this far without any divine ‘right’ at all.”
The Demon King said with a shudder.
It was the first time anyone had pushed him this far.
He was completely in rags.
He had crushed and torn apart the “indestructible” body that could revive over and over.
It meant this man possessed something that surpassed even the authority of an immortal.
“But that is your mistake.”
Still, it was fine.
The flesh had died, but the Demon King’s essence did not.
Without the goddess’s authority, it was impossible to erase him.
If anything, this was good.
If he took over the body of this monstrous man, the Demon King would become even stronger than he was now.
The Demon King’s essence began to devour Wilhelm’s body.
—No!
Goddess Pina had been watching the entire scene from start to finish.
If Wilhelm’s body was stolen by the Demon King here, this world would end.
Not only this world, but all connected dimensions would collapse before that Ruin.
But she never dreamed Wilhelm could threaten even the Demon King.
She couldn’t imagine he could grow to that level without any goddess’s favor.
This wasn’t because Wilhelm was simply great.
The being moving Wilhelm, “he” connected to that other world, was enabling Wilhelm to move beyond his limits.
It was also “he” who had completed Wilhelm to this extent.
—I’m sorry.
In the end, Pina took Wilhelm’s life.
If the Demon King stole a living body along with all the stars, they would lose the chance forever.
And “he” beyond this world would be robbed of his chance as well.
However, killing the completed being Wilhelm was dangerous even for her.
Even for a goddess, Wilhelm was the one who had faced Ruin and won.
So, in exchange for taking Wilhelm’s life, Pina had no choice but to give up her own body as well.
—Please. Lofty and great being, I beg of you.
Goddess Pina’s body shattered and fell as stars.
But she had no regrets.
At least a final “chance” had been created.
Even Pina did not know who “he” was.
She only hoped that the one who moved Wilhelm was someone who loved Pangaenia.
Because there was no one more honorable and great than “he.”
Even so, she wished, and wished again, that he would leap higher than before, that he would be the one to lead all worlds.
***
A recollection of memory.
The last wish Pina had before her body scattered was drawn in my mind.
In the end, every beginning and end was Wilhelm.
This situation was born from Knight King Wilhelm’s death.
‘As she took Wilhelm’s life, Goddess Pina herself also shattered.’
It wasn’t just that I restarted the game after the blue screen.
That had been possible because of Pina.
If she hadn’t sacrificed herself to kill Wilhelm, I would never have been given a second chance.
The problem was the star she left behind in sacrifice.
‘Looks like the Demon King took Pina’s star.’
Instead of Wilhelm’s intact body and five stars, he took Pina’s body and shattered it.
Then, after rebuilding the Demon Realm, he tried to invade Earth.
The Demon Realm had originally been half-broken, but it seemed Pina’s star had accelerated its restoration.
《The star’s rampage subsides.》
《‘Main Quest ??? : Eliminate the King of Dimensional Fissures’ has been completed.》
《Your level has increased!》
The message that the Main Quest was complete appeared.
Even though I had only sealed him with Golden Fillet, I was glad it counted as “eliminate.”
But more than that, the stares around me were strange.
“What are you staring at so hard, caw?”
All the star guardians.
Even the White King and the Four Great Masters.
They looked at me as if they couldn’t believe it, stunned.
Then the star guardians added a word each.
“Star guardian?”
“A corpse crow is a star guardian?”
What? Star guardian?
Are they talking about me?
But star guardians were only noble mythical species or powerful Fantasy Species.
I’d never even seen any other kind.
Kurung!
At that moment, the Giant of Annihilating Evil slowly rose from his seat.
Looking down at me, he frowned as if he hated admitting it but had no choice, and said,
“…A new star guardian has been born.”
Unique Skill Plunder
Dimension Warrior.
The great warriors who crossed over from another dimension to protect Earth.
They had warned again and again about this invasion.
—Soon, the full-scale invasion will begin.
—It will start within the next month. Only we Dimension Warriors can protect you.
—All governments of the world must cooperate. Prepare for ruin!
The world would be annihilated by an interdimensional invasion.
But if they cooperated, they could overcome it!
Perhaps because of the aftermath left by the two previous invasions, people began, one by one, to cooperate with the Dimension Warriors’ warning of a “full-scale invasion.”
An unknown terror was becoming a real threat.
And finally, “that day” arrived.
An interdimensional world floating in the sky.
People were shocked by the simultaneous phenomena happening across the globe.
—Am I the only one seeing that?
—World ending vibes lol
—Someone please tell me it’s CG!
—Whoa… this is insane.
—God is angry!
Online and offline alike, the world erupted into chaos.
And when a massive black dimensional fissure opened in the sky, the Interdimensional Community was being flooded with inquiries too.
—What are those black circles in the sky?
—Are monsters going to pour out of there now?
—Please protect us!
—Master! Where is the Master?
—What about the other 8 Heroes?
The Master and the beings called the “8 Heroes.”
As countless people searched for them, many broadcasting station crews were capturing them live.
And the moment the dimensional fissure opened, the 8 Heroes took the lead, “descended,” and prepared for the enemies that would soon come pouring in.
“Trust only us!”
“We will protect you from the interdimensional invasion!”
“As long as we are here, the world is safe!”
The many heroes shown on the broadcasts declared themselves saviors.
Their transformations, shimmering with golden light as they descended, were more than enough to dazzle people’s eyes.
They looked like warriors out of myths or legends.
They stood imposing, holding weapons and readying themselves.
They weren’t mere fakes dressed up on the outside.
They were real monsters, ones even the beasts that could move and shatter mountains feared.
With super heroes actually existing, people couldn’t help but go wild.
—We believe in you!
—So cool!
—Maxim! Take me!
If the invasion truly began, their status would pierce the heavens.
The 8 Heroes were relaxed.
They overflowed with confidence.