"I ca to help."
Yu-hyun looked at phistopheles, who had co to aid them, with a gaze of disbelief.
"Weren't you fighting the other Divine Spirits?"
"The matters on that side have been left to the lords of our Pandemonium, so don’t worry about it."
Those words, as if he didn’t even care about what was left behind, were so cold they sent a chill through his entire body.
However, thanks to this, they could receive the assistance of an exceptional ally, saving their lives.
Had it not been for phisto’s help a mont ago, even if they hadn't died, they would’ve been severely injured by the Genesis Foundation’s concentrated fire.
If there was a problem.
It was the sheer number of Elohim that still filled the space densely.
"They're like a moving cloud."
"Oello-nim, clouds do move, actually."
"Shut up! It’s just a manner of speaking!"
"Can we break through that?"
At phisto's question, Oello shrugged and pointed his chin at Yu-hyun.
"Maybe this guy could."
"It’s not like I can do everything. Besides, it seems like the enemies who've been watching us from afar are now starting to move in to hinder us."
Unlike before, about 70% of the stories embedded within Baekryun were now accessible.
Even with just this much, he could wield formidable power, but Yu-hyun wanted to preserve at least half of the stories to be ready when facing Logos.
Of course, if they couldn’t reach the foundation’s core, it would be pointless to save anything.
"Now that phisto-nim has joined us, things might go sowhat smoothly."
"I'm sorry to say, but my abilities are specialized in defense. I don’t have the power to sweep away those white cockroach-like creatures in one stroke."
Then, what was that small black hole he used a mont ago?
It made Yu-hyun wonder, but it was also true that phisto had overexerted himself in blocking the previous attack.
"I can’t open the path, but I can buy us ti once we’re inside an opened path. But only once."
"That will be enough."
Logos' subordinates, who had been lurking away from the blast center, rushed toward them.
They also instinctively knew that if they didn’t strike now, they would miss their chance to claim their lives.
Even though they had survived the bombardnt, it had cost a significant amount of stamina and strength, so now was the pri mont to defeat them.
"Now! Kill them while their strength is drained!"
"Forget pride or waiting for a chance! Charge all at once!"
With a single sword swing from Yu-hyun, hundreds of heroes and demigods fell.
Even though the heroes were third-generation Divine Spirits, so second-generation Divine Spirits were mixed among them, which made it clear.
The level of power Yu-hyun displayed was chilling.
Thus, they thought it was only possible to kill him now, charging in desperation.
"The Elohim aside, what are those guys rushing in for?"
"They think now’s the best chance to kill us, no matter what."
"That ans they look down on us, doesn’t it?"
Oello laughed with bared teeth, clearly offended. His hands were pitch-black from blocking the bombardnt, mangled, yet he paid no mind as he struck his fists together with a loud bang. Ṛ
It was true he had used up much strength, and he was a bit tired.
But even so, just because those guys ca rushing in, did they really think they could make a difference?
"Arrogant fools."
Even the first-generation Divine Spirits conceded a step to the King of Stories, and now it was ti to show why he was called the King of Wanderers.
"Calm down a bit, Oello-nim."
"What, punk? How can I hold back from that?"
"Praytion-nim is staying calm, so why are you the only one getting so excited…? You don’t have to go out there yourself."
"What?"
"I called in so others to deal with them for us."
From afar.
Wooooooong───!!!
A grating, eerie wail began to echo.
It sounded like the flapping of insect wings or the noise of sothing gnawing with its mouth.
The sound grew closer and closer.
The Divine Spirits rushing toward them paled upon locating the source of the noise.
"W-what is that?"
"A storm cloud?"
At first, they thought what was approaching was a dark cloud.
But soon they realized they were wrong. A storm cloud, even if charged with thunder, wouldn’t make such a dreadful sound.
Above all, the ominous aura that seed to crawl over one’s skin, twisting the organs with just a glance.
"Book…."
Soone with good vision recognized the true identity of the dark cloud, trembling.
"It’s a swarm of Bookworms!"
What they thought was a storm cloud.
Was actually a legion of Bookworms that had been held back in the rear before the battle comnced.
One of the Union's trump cards.
At that mont, Yu-hyun unleashed it and commanded the Bookworms.
"Sweep them all away."
Leading the charge were 30,000 interdiate and lower Bookworms, barely retaining any intelligence.
Like a swarm of locusts, these interdiate and lower Bookworms moved en masse, resembling a natural calamity.
So Bookworms targeted the Divine Spirits lying in wait, while others lunged at the Elohim filling the sky.
The black Bookworms and white Elohim collided in midair.
Just from colliding, the Elohim turned to powder and crumbled, and the Bookworms suffered the sa fate.
"Quite a spectacle."
Even Oello, who had traveled across the cosmos and seen much, found himself montarily stunned by the sight.
Thanks to the arrival of the Bookworms, a few gaps appeared in the dense Elohim ranks.
But it didn’t last long. The Elohim began to counterattack the Bookworm swarm.
If these were ordinary foes, the sudden appearance of the Bookworms would have thrown them into confusion, slowing their response, but not the Elohim.
They knew neither fear nor panic. An enemy appeared, and that was it. They simply acknowledged its presence.
The Elohim, unified in mind, received the orders from the foundation without even a 0.1-second delay.
What followed was an impersonal purge.
Kieeeekk!
Kiiiik!
The red spear of an Elohim pierced the black carapace of a Bookworm, which retaliated by crushing the Elohim’s head with its arm.
With heads shattered and bodies impaled, both Elohim and Bookworms fell entangled to the ground. For an interdiate Bookworm, it took ten Elohim clinging on before they fell together.
Such scenes played out everywhere.
An exchange rate that defied reason, an act of mutual destruction. The Elohim were undeterred by it.
With 30,000 Bookworms, the number wasn’t insignificant. Even the Divine Spirits under Logos were visibly horrified.
The issue was the Elohim’s sheer numbers.
"Even 30,000 aren’t enough."
Praytion murmured in dismay, watching as the Bookworms accompanying him were overwheld by the Elohim.
At first, they managed to push them back, but as the Elohim began their counterattack, the Bookworm legion was forced to retreat.
The Elohim vastly outnumbered the Bookworms. A million-strong army wouldn’t even begin to capture the scope of their endless numbers.
In contrast, the Bookworms' numbers, though considerable, were clearly limited.
Even if each lower Bookworm traded one-for-one with an Elohim, and interdiates took down ten Elohim, the Elohim still held the advantage.
An overwhelming quantity.
Then, the upper-level Bookworms entered the fray. Unlike the lower and interdiate Bookworms, which resembled a hybrid of insect and human, the upper-level Bookworms were the size of houses and sotis had beastly features.
Kroaaa!!
The upper-level Bookworms opened their mouths and let out a collective roar.
Thousands of Elohim were turned to dust and scattered in the shockwave that swept through the space.
This was the opportunity Yu-hyun had been waiting for.
“Oello-nim! Praytion-nim!”
“Okay!”
“Understood!”
The two Kings of Stories combined their powers, raising their level.
Oello clenched his fist, and Praytion poured his power into it. Oello’s golden light and Praytion’s black energy twisted together, forming a vortex.
“Here we go.”
Oello launched his fist forward. The golden and black energies spiraled in a double helix, piercing through the gap the Bookworms had opened.
Boom! The Elohim caught in the attack burst apart, erupting in a straight line of explosions that dazzled the eyes. In an instant, a clear path to the foundation was created.
To widen this opening, the high-level Bookworms unleashed an additional attack.
“Now’s our chance!”
As Oello shouted, the Overseer moved.
Flash! A beam of light burst from the Overseer’s red eyes, sweeping across the ground and burning all the high-level Bookworms to ashes.
Twelve such attacks were launched.
In the blink of an eye, over eighty percent of the high-level Bookworms, numbering in the hundreds, were obliterated. Before the shockwave and heat could even dissipate, the Overseers set their sights on Kang Yu-hyun as their next target.
‘Damn Logos. Determined to stop no matter what.’
Seeing how openly they targeted him, Yu-hyun could clearly see Logos’s intent.
In a world that would be erased and rewritten anyway, Logos intended to entertain himself by watching their desperate struggle as his final amusent.
The thought irritated him, but he couldn’t afford to miss this once-in-a-lifeti opportunity.
As Descartes’s power activated, black wings unfurled behind Yu-hyun. He took flight, aiming for the gap in the Elohim army.
The Elohim didn’t remain idle. They imdiately grasped their red spears, pointing them at Yu-hyun.
‘Should I use it?’
Yu-hyun hesitated, feeling the texture of Baekryun in his hand.
Even though he had called in the legion of Bookworms, the Elohim’s response had been far more organized and rapid than he had anticipated.
At this rate, he might have to use the remaining half of the stories contained in Baekryun.
In the face of a creeping sense of anxiety and pressure.
Yu-hyun stopped overthinking.
‘I’ll trust in them.’
After all, he had those he could rely on supporting him from behind.
So he’d put his faith in them. All he had to do was focus solely on moving forward without a single doubt.
With unwavering eyes, Yu-hyun aid for the foundation’s lower area that had been laid open.
It looked like nothing but light, as if it were a gateway to another dinsion.
He would break through it.
Flash!
The red spears held by the Elohim exuded a sinister aura as they flew toward Yu-hyun.
Hundreds of thousands of spears targeted Yu-hyun at once, creating the illusion of a red line drawn across the world.
Yu-hyun did not turn his eyes away from it and instead accelerated his movent.
Because he had decided to believe!
At that mont, phisto, who had been gathering power to unleash his final technique, finished his preparations.
[Let ti stop! How beautiful you are!]
The demon’s grand proclamation echoed across the world.
And then.
Ti stopped.
────.
The Elohim throwing their spears, the Overseers about to release beams from their eyes, the red spears dominating the space.
Everything on the battlefield froze in place.
Only.
Kang Yu-hyun continued to move.
“Go.”
Hearing phisto’s words behind him, Yu-hyun nodded in response without looking back, heading straight toward the interior of the foundation.
Having exhausted most of his strength to halt ti, phisto’s face turned pale as he watched Yu-hyun’s figure disappear beyond the light of the foundation.
At the sa ti, a distant mory of the past played out before him, now faint in his mind.
Yes, back then as well, that man had proudly moved forward, showing his back to everyone.
After binding them in a contract on his own terms, he’d left, dying on his own terms too.
Now, that departed figure and Yu-hyun—
“Not looking back is sothing they both have in common.”
Srrrrk.
The spell that stopped ti unraveled.
As the halted ti resud, the frozen spears of the Elohim painted the sky in a srizing display.
The sight of countless red spears traversing the air was like a grand fireworks show.
Realizing what had happened, the Elohim bared their sharp teeth, aiming for the one responsible.
“Well, now it’s my turn to dodge?”
Knowing the dangers, he had saved just enough strength to pull back at the critical mont.
“Please join , the two of you.”
“…Alright, I owe you.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t ntion it. The war isn’t over yet.”
phisto opened a rift in midair as he spoke.
Oello and Praytion leapt into the passageway phisto had created.
* * *
Yu-hyun advanced through an empty white space with nothing in sight.
When he first entered below the foundation, he briefly felt a strange sensation, as if he’d passed through an invisible thin film.
But now he simply moved endlessly through the white space, where even the direction was hard to gauge.
Was this how things looked before the birth of the universe?
There was no ti for such reflections.
This place was not suited for lingering. Though not visible, the strange power of this space slowly gnawed away at his body.
The effect was incredibly faint, but if he remained here long enough, he would unknowingly be consud by this place.
‘There.’
Yu-hyun instinctively identified the exit that would allow him to leave this space.
The pages of the Codex he carried guided him to where the original owner, Logos, was waiting.
‘Jin Cheong-woon managed to reach this place but failed to cross this white space.’
Now he understood why Jin Cheong-woon had been left in such a ravaged state. An uninvited guest would hit this wall, unable to do anything, and eventually vanish entirely.
In fact, it was remarkable that Jin Cheong-woon had even made it back alive.
‘Sothing’s there.’
In the distance, tree-like shapes began to appear one by one.
Upon these trees, countless fruits were clustered.
‘Fruits? No, this is…’
Inside each fruit, entities presud to be Divine Spirits were curled up and asleep.
There were hundreds of such trees.
Feeling a chill, Yu-hyun instinctively took a step back.
“What is this…?”
[They’re sprouts ant to cross over to the next world.]
“…!”
Yu-hyun froze in place.
In front of him, standing among the trees as if waiting, was a white figure with hands clasped behind its back.
How long had it been there? No, more importantly, he hadn’t even noticed it until it spoke.
[Even when great armies like Olympus or Asgard enter my realm to fight under , there are always so who oppose or resent . Those individuals are simply put to sleep like this.]
Logos casually flicked one of the fruits hanging nearby with a fingertip.
Inside was a woman clad in armor and helt.
[One of the Twelve Olympian Gods, Athena, wasn’t it? With her upright character and rigid ideals, she didn’t suit the role of a usurper. Finding a replacent for her was difficult, so I opted to seal her within a fruit, erasing part of her mory.]
Only a final hundred were said to cross over into the next universe, all as usurpers, but in truth, this was another lie of Logos.
For Divine Spirits like these who were difficult to replace, Logos sent them to the next universe intact to maintain continuity.
Of course, he erased their mories before sending them.
If they beca aware of the repetitive cycles, unintentional errors could arise.
[Originally, Michael and Satan should have entered here in this era too, but after a few cycles, they ended up regaining their mories. I ca to realize this process is inherently flawed.]
“You…”
[Welco to my garden. Out of all the repeated universes, you’re undoubtedly the first human to reach this place.]
Logos’s pale face broke into a grin.
It was a grin that stretched wide, as if he couldn’t contain his delight in this mont.
[Now, let us create the ultimate story together.]
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