Chapter 246


I was fiddling with the distinct scar on my neck while looking down at the blazing Skewered Head Object.

‘It was easier than I thought.’

The Skewered Head Object had stringent destruction conditions, and its presence as an object was quite significant.

Moreover, I was unable to summon the Mini Reaper Garden or call upon the Mini Reapers, unlike usual, yet I managed to get rid of it surprisingly smoothly.

It was thanks to the fact that the Skewered Head Object, meeting my ‘eyes,’ was more frightened than I anticipated.

While touching the scar that wrapped around Yerin’s neck in this world, I felt a mix of disappointment and relief.

The somewhat disappointing part was that this was just a dream, meaning I couldn’t vent my anger on that Skewered Object that hurt Yerin.

If it got resurrected in the Mini Reaper Garden, I would really torment it for a long time….

The reassuring aspect was that this was just a dream.

Thank goodness Yerin wasn’t hurt.

As I thought about this, I crouched down and poked the sprawled Skewered Head Object with a twig.

Beside me, a blue girl and a man resembling a cult leader were having a serious conversation.

“Purple Blade. It’s definitely the moon’s power. But why did the moon attack the alchemists?”

The man mumbled in a low voice as he rummaged through the remains of the blazing object, “The moon and alchemists must have been in a cooperative relationship.”

“If the purple moon has indeed begun attacking humans, that’s a serious problem. We need to return to the Alchemist Guild immediately and come up with a countermeasure. The purple moon is the strongest moon. If we leave it be, it’s going to cause major trouble.”

The man, having extracted a sample of the purple blade from the wreckage, seemed to think they had to head out of the city right away.

The blue girl, seeing that, shook her finger side to side with a face that made you want to give her a bopping.

“Hmph. No, the problem is not the moon.”

The blue girl pulled out a long glass rod and drew out the gooey black liquid from the object’s debris.

“Evolution Liquid?”

“Yes, the Evolution Liquid is the problem. Honestly, from the first time I saw it, something felt off.”

The blue girl took on an exaggerated pose, as if she were a home shopping presenter or a cult religion promoter, and began to speak.

“This is not your everyday Evolution Liquid! If a human drinks it, it leads to evolution and immortality! If you sprinkle it on a magical book, the book dissolves away and disappears—truly a miracle liquid! No side effects! No environmental pollution!! It’s the perfect dream of an alchemist!”

After her loud speech, the blue girl cleared her throat and continued.

“Doesn’t it sound strange? That such a splendid and perfect substance has appeared? That sort of fraudulent substance is bound to have some severe side effects.”

“So you’re saying that the current Master of the Alchemist Guild, hailed as the world’s greatest genius, is deceiving people?”

The man thought for a moment before adding his words.

“Now that I think about it, there was also the Blackened Conch. That could be related to the purple moon’s minions and the Evolution Liquid as well.”

Listening to their conversation, I realized this dream was dealing with a considerably past timeline.

In the dreams I had seen of the blue girl, there had only been responses to the Evolution Liquid.

Moreover, the blue girl’s level of intensity seemed far lower compared to other dreams.

At that moment, a purple conch shell gradually revealed itself in the air.

It seemed like an invisible hand was slowly bringing it into being.

The conch shell emitted a faint light and hovered in the air, with faint murmurings leaking from within.

It was a dream’s landmark guiding me with its faint voice.

With a hint of anticipation, I reached out to grab the conch.

But the moment I held the conch in my hand, the sky began to rumble noisily and crack open.

Between the ominous blackened clouds, the space shattered like broken glass.

And from that gap, the hand of a gigantic object reached out and began to descend toward the city.

*

An ominous shadow was cast over the city of the purple moon.

A gigantic claw, exuding a presence that seemed like it would crush everything around, was descending from the clouds.

The citizens dealing with the bizarre situation in the city all looked up at the sky, but the blue girl was a bit different.

Instead, she lowered her gaze.

She saw the ground filled with purple light.

That light, rich with the power of the purple moon, was etching letters onto the ground, the walls, and the ceiling.

And the moment she saw those letters, an endless fear began to rush toward the girl.

‘You must not write this name.’

‘You must not see this name.’

‘You must not say this name.’

‘You must not remember this name.’

A claw that emerged from the heavens was spreading mental pollution to discourage the etched name.

Yet the blue girl, amidst that endless terror, recalled several pieces of information.

The erased existence she had been pursuing to reveal its identity.

The name that was written in so many documents, the erased name.

The powerful magical book that was attempting to erase the name appearing over the city.

The Magical Book that Killed God, with no detailed information left but a demeaning title.

Amidst the seemingly unrelated information, the girl reached one conclusion.

A name that many wanted to record.

But an erased name.

The name of the faith that killed a god in a very distant antiquity.

Could the erased existence possibly be that of the name of the religion that died out in ancient times?

Finally looking up and gazing at the sky, the blue girl shouted.

“Book that Killed God!”

This moment was one that provided answers to the blue girl, who had been continuously chasing the ‘erased existence.’

‘Yes, what I was searching for was the ‘Name of God.’

But could she survive now with this understanding from the Book that Killed God?

The moment she held that question, the girl in black and white clothes came closer, walking with a distinctive gait.

And holding a fading purple conch in her hands, she said,

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

Her pronunciation was a bit odd, but those words were immensely reassuring.

*

As the gigantic claw raked through the city.

Sturdy buildings crumbled helplessly, and countless people were swept away.

But that wasn’t the big problem.

The larger issue was that there was an unidentified something roaming in the city, killing people.

Even in the streets that had not been swiped by the gigantic claw, the dead were strewn about.

Those corpses had been ripped apart by something sharp.

In a corner of that city’s alley, an alchemist was frantically scratching at his forearm.

“Erase! I said erase!”

Even as the veins were exposed from deep scratches and blood flowed profusely, it didn’t erase the markings.

The ominous name etched on his forearm.

For reasons unclear, it was an extremely sinister name.

Crack.

At that moment, the sound of stone walls being mercilessly smashed came through.

The man gasped and turned his head, but there was nothing there.

Only the stone wall with the engraved name was crumbling as if torn apart by sharp claws.

“Ahhh!”

Terrified, the man had no choice but to scream and flee.

Looking pale from excessive blood loss, he struggled to catch his breath and hid beneath an old building.

It was a dusty, cramped space where he couldn’t properly crouch down, but that enclosed atmosphere made him feel a bit at ease.

Then something damp brushed against the tips of his fingers.

“Huh?”

As he turned his head, he found many torn corpses packed deep beneath the building.

“Hah. Hah.”

He fought to stifle his scream while trying to slowly escape from beneath the building, but a gruesome hand shot out from the pile of corpses, clutching him tightly.

“No!”

And just like that, he was pulled in and torn apart like the corpses.

*

The moment I saw the ominous claw protruding from the sky, I was able to recall an old memory.

‘Nameless.’

That name I had surely been taught at the Object Association, but I had forgotten it quite unwittingly.

And the aura emanating from the ominous claw reminded me of the malignance I felt at the ‘Temporary Camp of Gyeoyang Mountain.’

The object that appeared over the city was undoubtedly ‘Nameless.’

Emerging through the clouds, ‘Nameless’ was scratching away at the city continuously.

With every swipe of its claws, buildings crumbled and countless firewood disappeared.

Before the blue girl and I appeared, there was a collective of small ‘Nameless’ beings.

Those grotesquely twisted heads, bodies, and legs.

And they bore arms resembling those of the claw floating in the sky.

These tiny ‘Nameless’ were slowly approaching and tearing people apart with their sharp claws.

Seemingly walking leisurely one moment, then suddenly right in front of you the next, or leaping out of a cramped space.

‘Still, considering its reputation as a world-class grade object, it’s not as challenging as I thought!’

I had even thought that before.

Initially, with every spatial cut, they were easily severed, and ‘queeek,’ they would just crumble.

But as time passed, it began to get harder.

As if they were adapting to my abilities.

Even when I performed a spatial cut, they wouldn’t be immediately severed, and when I tried to ‘squeeze’ the space, noise accompanied it as they began to break through.

Furthermore, the destruction conditions were tricky.

<Complete Death of a God.>

What’s up with ‘God’?

I should have sensed something was off with that when it came to a global-scale class object!

At this rate, I wouldn’t succeed in completing the mission given by the purple conch, which was supposed to tell the correct ending of the dream.

The hint the purple conch provided was simple.

[Protect the blue girl and survive in this city for an hour.]

At first, it seemed like it would be pretty easy, but ugh.

The white flames used by the blue girl and her master were quite powerful, but ‘Nameless’ quickly gained immunity, hence became of no help.

‘This is a problem. At this rate, I can’t hold out for an hour.’

As I pondered whether I should summon the halo, accepting that Yerin’s body might be ripped apart.

At that moment, something pure white burst through the wall and sent the scattered ‘Nameless’ flying in all directions.

“Hungry Ghost!”

The blue girl happily welcomed that white stone.

‘Hungry Ghost!’

At the moment I saw the Hungry Ghost, a brilliant idea popped into my head.

With a Hungry Ghost of that size, maybe I could use the halo?