The awful pain abruptly disappeared, replaced by fatigue and sleepiness.

He was so drowsy that his eyelids felt heavier than anything he had ever lifted. Just keeping his eyes open seemed impossible.

‘Is it because I absorbed too much energy?’ Gi-Gyu wondered. Or was it because he was about to die?

Gi-Gyu had stopped resisting and was absorbing the mountain of sorcerous energy. His shell was beyond full, but he continued to expand it to take in more. It was a painful process. If someone stretched their body forcefully, they would feel the kind of pain he was feeling.

The pain would have killed any other human, but Gi-Gyu endured it. He also didn’t bother blocking the poison in the sorcerous energy from invading his body.

‘N…ot… y…et?’ Gi-Gyu asked Lou, barely holding onto his consciousness. He was accepting the toxin to learn about it. And Lou was the only one who could figure it out.

-G…ive… me a mi…nuit…

Lou was faring no better than Gi-Gyu. Gi-Gyu wanted to look at a clock to see how much time had passed. It felt like it had been days, but he knew it hadn’t been that long.

So far, he had been able to feel the flow of time. However, Gi-Gyu was worried that if he lost consciousness, he would forget everything.

He felt like he was encased in ice. He was strenuously expanding his shell to the sorcerous energy while feeling ineffable pain. Thankfully, the pain also helped him stay awake. The pain was followed by ever-rising waves of drowsiness and the unknown toxin, constantly threatening to send him into a deep sleep.

Every time this happened, Gi-Gyu hurried to accept even more sorcerous energy. The cycle of pain and drowsiness continued. He actually preferred pain because that way, he could remain awake.

Then, he heard Paimon’s annoying voice. “Very impressive.”

This demon was still standing nearby and watching Gi-Gyu like he was a lab rat.

“I can’t believe you have already absorbed so much of the sorcerous energy. I’m truly impressed.” Paimon watched Gi-Gyu with amazement-filled eyes.

The sorcerous energy orb around Gi-Gyu was thinning gradually. If this were released to the world, it would be enough to destroy Earth. It was so venomous that a mere graze from it could kill a non-player.

Paimon was amazed because Gi-Gyu was absorbing such potent energy.

“But…” Paimon raised his monocle as if disappointed.

Boom.

Another Belphegor exploded, its sorcerous energy joining the orb enveloping Gi-Gyu.

“You’re not even close,” Paimon whispered so quietly that Gi-Gyu couldn’t even hear him.

Paimon glanced to his side, where there were still plenty of Belphegor clones left.

Meanwhile, Gi-Gyu continued to endure the pain-drowsiness cycle.

Just then…

‘Finally…!’ Gi-Gyu thought in relief.

-I got it!

Lou exclaimed. It appeared that both of them had figured out the toxin’s identity simultaneously.

***

The attack on Eden began in full force as loud explosions ravaged Eden’s outer walls. Brunheart could once monitor all of Eden, but that wasn’t possible now without the sync. However, everyone could still see what was happening.

“This is crazy,” Choi Chang-Yong mumbled as he gazed at the enemy army. They could see the enemies rushing in from the control tower, bringing destruction and fire into the center of Eden.

Hwang Chae-Il declared, “We’ll have to send out the soldiers.”

He could have chosen not to use the soldiers if the enemy number were smaller. Hwang Chae-Il would have preferred more powerful enemies if there were fewer of them. They could’ve dealt with the strong enemies without deploying the weak, undead soldiers.

With Gi-Gyu’s sync gone, no one knew if these soldiers could be revived.

However, Hwang Chae-Il now had no option other than deploying the undead to slow down the enemy army.

Hwang Chae-Il touched the Sephiroth Tree.

Dun dun dun dun dun.

The dust storm created by the enemy army settled down. Soon after, continuous bursts of explosions rang.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

This was the wall Hwang Chae-Il had created to stop the enemy army. The protective wall was made with crystals and the lava collected from the Bukhan River region hell.

This wall was so strong that it brought the enemy army to a screeching halt.

Old Man Hwang gazed at the wall proudly. “It’s amazing.” But he quickly became tense again.

Kaboom!

Another blast—louder than all the others before—occurred, and everyone stared.

“Our enemy’s reinforcement has finally arrived,” Hwang Chae-Il mumbled.

They had expected the wall to last a little while, but it was already cracking. A pair of hands pushed through it and held the wall apart.

Soon…

Crack.

The wall began splitting. It was so strong that it had stopped the entire enemy army, but this one creature was destroying it with its bare hands.

The enemy’s reinforcement.

Gi-Gyu’s creatures fell into despair. They wondered if they could even survive until Gi-Gyu arrived.

Soo-Jung mumbled, “Ha Song-Su…”

The one who demolished the wall alone dashed forward.

***

After leaving Bodhidharma to deal with Aamon, Tao Chen and his players rushed into the presidential palace. The inside was like a maze, and everyone moved with a determined mien.

Suddenly, Tao Chen flinched and paused.

Sun Won looked around wearily and asked, “Do you feel an enemy nearby?”

Tao Chen shook his head. “No.”

He had sensed something, but it wasn’t an approaching enemy. Tao Chen looked down, sensing Gi-Gyu in the basement. He wondered how many barriers were between them. Tao Chen could only feel a sliver of what was in the basement, yet it was enough to make him shiver.

He sensed an incredibly potent sorcerous energy mixed with an unknown toxin. A few minutes ago, Tao Chen couldn’t have detected this because it was tenuous. But he had gained a new status, and his senses were becoming sharper by the second.

‘I guess I am closer to being a ruler,’ Tao Chen thought. After overcoming a deadly hurdle, he was awarded a prize. According to the system, Tao Chen was getting closer to becoming a ruler.

He was given an incredible skill called Space Slash, and his magic and senses also received a bump. Tao Chen was amazed by how his body was changing, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel worried.

Why was he given such power now? Was there a meaning behind this timing?

Tao Chen knew about Gaia. He knew she was part of why he had suddenly gained a new status today, but he also suspected there was more to this.

‘I’m guessing something huge is ahead of me.’ Tao Chen believed that it was a gift to help him get through whatever difficulty he was about to face. This thought scared him.

He had just faced Aamon and knew there were more hell kings in this palace. Tao Chen had hoped that Gi-Gyu and Bodhidharma would be enough to deal with them. But the “gift” indicated that something bigger was about to happen.

Something beyond Gi-Gyu’s control.

Tao Chen looked at the players behind him.

“Everyone…” He gave a respectful fist-in-palm salute to his fighters. “You have followed me bravely up till now.”

Tao Chen continued, “If any of you wish to return now, it is not too late. Whether it is because you want to see your family or other reasons… It doesn’t matter. If you feel any hesitance, this is the time to leave. You have already accomplished much.”

The players could feel that Tao Chen meant his every word, which only increased their anxiety. He was intentionally not telling them his thoughts, and the players were intuitive enough to know why.

Everyone could tell that something dangerous was about to happen. But even so, no one turned around.

“We are with you,” the players announced as one.

“Then we’ll be going faster now.” Tao Chen dashed forward, and his soldiers moved to catch up.

Leading the players, Tao Chen decided, ‘Even if I die here… Or even if we win, we must hurry. Time is not on our side.’

Tao Chen and his group weren’t the only ones fighting here. Gi-Gyu was fighting in the basement, and Bodhidharma had risked his life outside. So, they had to quickly deal with whatever fate had in store and join the others.

Tao Chen grinned. He was a bit relieved because of one thing—he could feel that the battle he had left behind was over now. This meant that the battle occurring in the basement might go a little easier.

After all, someone more powerful and capable than him was heading down there to help Gi-Gyu.

***

“...!” Paimon’s eyes wavered in disbelief. The demon watched everything unfold, but it felt surreal. He witnessed someone achieving the impossible.

“T-this can’t be! This doesn’t make any sense!” Paimon exclaimed as the sorcerous energy orb thinned out before his eyes.

What was going on here? How did this happen?

The Belphegors here were just copies, but they were decent replicas. The clones were inferior to the original in many aspects but surpassed the original in one aspect.

“The clones have more sorcerous energy and…” Paimon whispered. He had added a toxin to the already potent sorcerous energy.

Each Belphegor held enough energy to flood a small world, but Gi-Gyu was absorbing everything. Moreover, his absorption rate wasn’t going down—it was going up.

“...” Paimon shook his head, trying not to panic. He still had many Belphegor clones left.

Boom.

More clones exploded to repair the dark orb.

“He probably overcame his shell’s limitation, but…” Paimon saw the orb shaking unstably. He believed that Gi-Gyu couldn’t tolerate the contaminants and the corrosive nature of the sorcerous energy.

This had to be a suicidal mission. Even if Gi-Gyu managed to absorb all the sorcerous energy, he wouldn’t survive. Even the original Adam couldn’t accomplish this.

Paimon felt certain that they had successfully trapped Gi-Gyu. Gi-Gyu could never escape this checkmate.

But…

His trembling hands suggested that some part of him believed he was wrong. This creature inside the orb might be a beast inscrutable by common sense.

“Kekeke…” Paimon’s face crumpled in excitement. When he saw the orb thinning again, he clenched his fists to explode two more Belphegors. Now, he didn’t have many clones left.

Just then…

Boom!

A short but powerful sound was heard as someone dropped from the sky. The figure landed expertly, and before Paimon could find out who it was, the newcomer yelled, “Hupppp!”

Suddenly, the newly-released sorcerous energy that was about to join the orb lost its direction. Instead of heading toward Gi-Gyu, it rushed toward Paimon.

“What?!” Paimon screamed, aware he wouldn’t survive it. He was the greatest blacksmith, but even he wouldn’t survive if this much sorcerous energy attacked him.

“Ackkk!” Paimon quickly moved Leviathan, that was behind him, to take the hit. The sorcerous energy crashed into Leviathan. Leviathan held the same amount of sorcerous energy but had a different contaminant, so the two energies began clashing.

Paimon hurriedly exploded another Belphegor and used its sorcerous energy to engulf the two clashing energies.

Kaboom!

The clashing energies were contained, but Paimon didn’t get a chance to relax.

“Die!” The newcomer screamed, his fist moving toward Paimon. “Die, lowly demon!”

Paimon saw in horror a man with sharp features leaping toward him.