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What is happening?

“It feels different to be back after such a long time?”

Abid thought as he floated in the darkness-filled void.

His limbs had been cleanly severed to the point of not even shedding a drop of blood, and his ‘soul’ was divided into dozens of strands.

Just a while ago…

“I never expected this either. Who would have thought the world would summon me so easily… heh. I’m truly grateful.”

‘……’

A demon that had burst forth from the magic circle.

The demon bore the same face as the being of light that he so despised.

The size and appearance of power were almost identical, but the one difference was that this entity possessed ‘magic.’

Abid and Deathron, initially bewildered by the situation, soon made quick judgments.

For both of them, Lily was a vital asset.

No matter if it was Lily’s clone or a fake concept, she thought similarly enough to deserve to be killed.

Thus, Abid severed Black Lily’s neck, and Deathron’s black magic obliterated Lily’s remaining body.

It felt oddly unsettling to have dealt with it so easily, but in any case, their actions were swift.

As Abid wiped away the madly flowing sweat,

‘This is getting boring, isn’t it?’

The world flipped upside down.

As if what had just happened was merely an illusion, a composed Lily floated and waved her hand, causing the ground and sky to upheave.

It felt like all the beings and laws of the world were twisting.

In the blink of an eye, Abid’s physical body was ‘neatly’ separated into dozens of pieces, and Deathron resembled a similar form.

And in the present.

“Hehe.”

An endless void filled with darkness.

In a space where the magic felt dizzying, Black Lily smiled as she watched them floating in the air.

“How considerate. Without the user’s intervention, I couldn’t meddle here. To think you’d call me personally.”

‘……’

“As promised, I’ll grant one request. Of course, the decision is mine. Ah, that wouldn’t work, right?”

Was this a mistake?

Abid hurriedly turned his head.

No, the thought of turning his head was amusing.

His body and soul no longer belonged to him.

Even a small piece of flesh and a handful of soul were under Black Lily’s control.

Still, Abid somehow shifted his gaze to someone beside him.

Deathron, who was in a similar predicament.

Deathron seemed to have already tasted something, but watching Black Lily’s actions, he appeared to be conversing separately with his inner consciousness.

He might have looked like he was protesting…

“I don’t have much to do with Lily, you know?”

‘……’

It was unlikely to connect.

After all, the opponent was similar to a clone of the being of light.

At the point where she held all authority over their bodies, Deathron’s words did not stir her in the slightest.

Abid dumbly awaited the end of their conversation.

Meanwhile, he felt an odd sensation.

He was initially angry.

The being that looked exactly like the one who killed his beloved had appeared, and he reacted immediately, yet couldn’t lay a finger on her.

Then he was transported to this unknown, indistinguishable space, ending up in the current situation.

It was as if he were laid out like butchered meat in a slaughterhouse.

He should be angrier than before, but…

‘… Why?’

Why was he not angry?

On the contrary, his emotions were calming down, and an inexplicable sense of awe was welling up inside him.

Was she different from the being of light?

Yes, she was different. She embraced the darkness instead of light.

The being of light probably wouldn’t favor her much either.

Living beings instinctively have a tendency to dislike entities similar to them.

So, are we ‘on the same side’?

‘No. That’s not it.’

That would be too hasty a conclusion.

That woman was a clear enemy, the same essence as the being of light, so even in a slim chance, there would be no reason to hide ‘secrets’ from the same side.

The true identity of the ‘clown’ mentioned by the Evil God long ago…

‘Cough…’

It’s frustrating.

It feels like sinking endlessly into deep water.

If I continue to sink like this, it would be comfortable…

‘Listen well, Abid. This is exactly what an illusion is! Simple dead ones like you easily fall for this. Oh, of course, being simple doesn’t mean being foolish, so don’t get too mad…’

!

Kek! Kek!

“Oh my. You’re awake?”

“This damn woman… Hey! Get up! You zombie!”

‘!’

With his eyes opened, Abid stepped onto the ground with ‘two feet.’

His legs and other body parts were intact, not cut off at all.

The body and soul he thought were severed were, in fact, perfectly whole and attached.

‘What’s going on…?’

“I have to kill this girl! How dare she deceive me?!”

“I haven’t implied anything to you.”

‘… What do you mean.’

Abid quickly grasped the situation.

The previous scene had all been an illusion; neither he nor Deathron had been severed.

They hadn’t been transported to another space or had their souls ripped apart.

Instead, the Deathron from earlier had long since regained his composure.

Chaang!

Abid felt a deep anger rise from within and drew his sword.

The pitch-black blade emitted thick magic.

‘How dare you humiliate me?! I’ll obliterate you!’

“Hehe… I thought it would be simple, but there are no easy tasks in this world…”

“Die!”

Abid charged again, clutching his sword.

Deathron, who had been engaged in a scuffle, also seemed ready to move his staff, while Black Lily smiled faintly.

“Let’s leave that aside, but it seems the user’s mental barrier is quite thick. I thought it would break with one or two attempts.”

“?!”

‘Huh…?’

“Then shall we try again?”

With a single gesture, Abid and Deathron’s bodies were once again separated.

They believed they were merely being shown another illusion and scrambled to escape it.

However, this was a phenomenon occurring in reality, even if it felt like an illusion.

Abid and Deathron were trapped within endless darkness, their bodies and souls being continuously severed and restored in an endless loop.

They simply did not realize it.

“I wonder who this clown is, to hide so tightly…?”

Until they find the ‘something’ hidden behind their own unconsciousness that even they didn’t know about.

She grinned as she observed the two floundering in the eternal darkness.

“Let’s do this just five more times, alright? I have places to be later.”

■

In the skies over the starting empire.

“W-What have you done? What the heck is happening?!”

“Get that guy!”

“Inflict any kind of injury!”

“He’s convulsing!! It’s clear he’s suffered a fatal injury!”

Only one supreme dead one, the clown, remained, clutching his head and rolling around in the air.

To the perspective of the users facing him, it seemed like the clown had sustained severe injuries, but he had a different issue at hand.

“Why! Why is this happening?! Why did I summon and then fall down?! What the hell?!”

It had been a perfect plan.

To incite a battle between the angel and Lily, and during it to wildly ravage the living beings of this world.

Though many dead ones and power were consumed to maintain the ‘balance,’ the challengers without an angel or Lily were no more than bugs.

When he finished wiping the place with Abid, it would all be over.

While Abid wanted to capture Lily, the clown had no problem not capturing either the angel or Lily.

Once the battle was triggered, those two would fight until their skin fell off, and in the meantime, they would fill the world with death, and that would be that.

From Abid’s perspective, it was astonishingly simple.

“Just eat what I’m serving you! Don’t spit it out!!”

“What are you talking about since earlier?!”

“Catch him!”

“I-I-I’m serious!!!”

Whoooomp!!

As the clown screamed and reached out, his hand grew abnormally large.

Surprising the rankers who had been avoiding until now with a sudden attack, they were startled.

No, they couldn’t avoid it.

Creeeeak!!

“Cawwww!!!”

“Y-You crazy bastard…”

“Everyone be careful! His momentum has changed!!”

But the clown was not not fighting merely because he couldn’t fight.

He had intentionally avoided combat for the sake of his plans and balance.

The clown’s giant skeletal hand tore through space and in an instant, crushed the group of 300 rankers.

“Damn it! We’re done for! The angel is dying, and the balance is all messed up…”

The clown grabbed his head once more as if his skull were ringing.

The black lily that dashed out from the demon summoning circle.

The existence of Black Lily was already known.

However, that existence had received information that it was restrained by the laws of this world unlike the challengers, and for the time being, he was not too worried.

‘At least until the challengers step into the ‘demon realm,’ she will never come out.’

The clown believed that, but suddenly the situation changed as the summoning circle spread from Abid’s side.

The battle between Lily and the angels was nearing an end with Lily’s victory.

Originally, under Deathron’s assumptions, a normal demon would have emerged, but the weight on the angel’s side had significantly decreased.

And this world was currently a place where the God of Balance had intervened.

‘To balance the immense weight called Lily…’

“Phew… it’s done.”

I’m tired now.

“Just die, all of you. Cleanly.”

The clown’s red space engulfed the empire.

 

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