Gi-Gyu hesitated for a while.

“Kekeke!” Paimon giggled again, but his voice no longer rang in Gi-Gyu’s head.

Gi-Gyu wondered if he had imagined the warning, as his mind and body weren’t in good condition. Because of the sorcerous energy, he was burning up like he had a fever. Whenever he tried to relax, he felt like he would explode.

So, he wouldn’t be surprised if that warning really were a hallucination.

Gi-Gyu was deep in thought, but he didn’t forget that time wasn’t on his side. He desperately wanted to open the gate and run to Eden. His sync to his creatures was still too weak. He called out to El and Old Man Hwang, but neither answered.

In the end…

“Sy…” Gi-Gyu opened his dry lips to say the word, but he couldn’t. Instead, he hit the back of Paimon’s head hard.

Whack.

“Ugh,” Paimon groaned and lost consciousness. It wasn’t a simple blow to the back; Gi-Gyu had infused sorcerous energy and Death into the blow. So, he was certain Paimon was unconscious.

Finally, the giggles stopped, and silence overran the space. Gi-Gyu carried Paimon with one hand.

Thud.

He took a step forward, again creating a large crater on the floor. One step at a time, Gi-Gyu walked toward Bodhidharma, pushing through the pain.

Gi-Gyu silently looked down at the unconscious monk. Bodhidharma had risked his life to protect him. Although the monk didn’t die, he was in bad shape.

He wanted to use Life to heal the monk but couldn’t. His shell was saturated with sorcerous energy. It would kill him if he tried to pull out Life from it.

Gi-Gyu lifted Bodhidharma as well to carry him. His eyes then traveled to the trembling sword stuck in the ground.

‘Lou.’ Gi-Gyu called out. Lou slowly turned into smoke before transforming into black liquid. This substance crawled to reach Gi-Gyu’s foot and wrapped itself around him.

When it hardened around Gi-Gyu’s leg, Gi-Gyu moaned, “Ugh.”

Lou couldn’t transform into his ring or human forms. He was barely awake, but there was no time for Gi-Gyu to do anything for him.

“Open,” Gi-Gyu announced desperately. He wasn’t with Brunheart, but thanks to her evolution, Gi-Gyu could open her gate anywhere.

A rip appeared in the space, and the familiar blue gate began to open.

Unfortunately, the gate refused to open fully. Its opening was only big enough for two people to pass through barely.

‘Brun…’ Gi-Gyu deduced it was because Brunheart wasn’t in good condition either. He stepped toward the gate. He wanted to run to it, but his body refused to obey him.

Suddenly, a blast occurred behind him.

Kaboom!

Gi-Gyu quickly turned toward it. He was so weak that he had failed to detect the presence.

“I’ll follow you…,” the man said quietly.

At first, Gi-Gyu didn’t recognize the newcomer. His eyes had turned black, so he couldn’t see the man clearly. He tried to sense the man’s energy to figure out their identity.

But when Gi-Gyu heard his voice, he recognized him. It was an acquaintance.

“Tao Chen…?”

“I took care of the president.” Tao Chen looked around, seeing the room marred with blood and flesh chunks. He could tell that many hell kings had exploded here, and this was the site of a vicious battle.

“It looks like you were successful as well,” Tao Chen added.

Gi-Gyu nodded.

Tao Chen rushed toward him.

“I won’t slow you down.” Tao Chen reassured Gi-Gyu, who only nodded and continued walking toward the gate.

Gi-Gyu and Tao Chen entered the gate together.

Fwoosh.

The gate quickly disappeared, like it was never here. All that was left behind were signs of a grim battle.

***

Eden was burning.

Eden had never experienced this kind of destruction before. Everywhere, one could only see raging apocalyptic fires and hellish blizzards. It was surreal.

“Kwerrrk!”

“Kriiiik!”

The screams were monstrous and loud enough to rattle the place.

Monsters, worse than the ones in the Tower and the gates, were stomping around Gi-Gyu’s Eden.

“Dark Spear.” Riding the Griffin King, Hart summoned thousands of black spears and shot them toward the enemies.

Whoosh!

Although the monsters screamed in pain, the attack wasn’t enough to kill any of the powerful demons. Those beastly creatures simply plucked the spear from their shoulders and chests and continued onwards.

“How are they regenerating so fast?” Even Hart, who was a lich, couldn’t believe it.

And Hart alone wasn’t failing.

“How dare you, you filthy demons!” Botis roared. He used to be a seatholder and had once made high-rankers cower, but he wasn’t doing better. He used his elongated tail like a whip to sweep away the enemies.

But it wasn’t enough.

“Kwerrrk!” The monsters screamed in pain but continued like mindless zombies.

“Haa… There are too many of them.” Botis shuddered. Their enemies’ number was troubling, not their strength.

But Gi-Gyu’s creatures didn’t complain or despair. Nothing apart from their main goal mattered. They had to protect at all costs.

“Destroy!” Hal ordered, and the undead army sprinted forward.

Whoosh!

Black sorcerous energy covered Hal’s giant halberd. When he swung it, he beheaded many enemies. Sighing, he looked around. They couldn’t afford to despair because they weren’t the ones dealing with the worst of the enemies.

He turned to look at the giant wall made of tree branches nearby. Those fighting behind this wall had it much worse than them.

Hal roared, “Do not fear death! Your lives are gifts from the grandmaster! So do not be afraid to die for him!”

His army roared back bravely.

The destroyed undead didn’t regenerate like usual. They had trained and prepared for this day—the day of their true death.

‘Grandmaster.’ Hal pulled on the rein of his steed. His eyes suddenly began burning red as he shouted, “Ackkk! Any creature who dares to step foot in our grandmaster’s land will face death!”

The red flame in his eyes turned orange and then yellow.

Meanwhile, Choi Chang-Yong unsheathed his sword and focused. He muttered, “How long are you all just going to watch?”

Behind him were the human players. They all produced a different reaction to the scene before them.

The players had decided to become Gi-Gyu’s allies, but they weren’t as desperate to protect Eden as Gi-Gyu’s creatures. Also, the battle before them seemed to be between monsters. It didn’t look like there was a place for humans there.

Even the bravest players seemed fearful.

A player whispered, “This is crazy…”

“Cowards,” Choi Chang-Yong grunted.

Crack.

Lightning arcs danced on his sword as Choi Chang-Yong dashed forward. “Imagine that your home is being attacked like this! What if this were Seoul?!”

He swung his sword, and his lightning swept the area. His sword was now fully charged. He continued, “And after this place falls, what do you think they will target next?!”

This thought was enough to make the players raise their weapons.

***

Brunheart had created the wooden wall in the middle of Eden. She gave everything she had to isolate the battle between Ha Song-Su and the four women.

Inside, a fierce fight was taking place.

“Die!” Soo-Jung flew in the air like a bullet and tried to cut Ha Song-Su’s arm. She was holding black flame swords in both of her hands. But Ha Song-Su used his bare arm to deflect her.

Clank!

As Soo-Jung fell to the ground from the force of his attack, Ha Song-Su flew after her.

However, the feathers from El’s sixteen wings flew out to stop him.

Whoosh!

“Hup!” Yoo-Bin didn’t miss a beat as she also rushed toward him. A longhorn appeared on her head, and a pair of black wings ripped out her back. Flying at an incredible speed, Yoo-Bin tried to strike Ha Song-Su. However, he leaped even higher in the air and strangled her.

“Ugh!” Yoo-Bin groaned.

“Yoo-Bin!” Lim Hye-Sook, wielding the World Tree, glared at him. Rock spears flew toward Ha Song-Su, so he had no choice but to let Yoo-Bin go.

“Dammit,” Soo-Jung swore. “Why is that bastard pupil of mine so late…”

Ha Song-Su was in the air and looking down at them arrogantly. Soo-Jung looked up at him resentfully.

Ha Song-Su.

Four powerful women had fought him, but all he had suffered so far were a few rips on his clothes and a few minor cuts. Soo-Jung couldn’t help but laugh drily.

On the other hand, the four women were panting and exhausted.

“Are you all okay?” Soo-Jung looked at them and asked, but no one answered.

‘This is bad.’ Soo-Jung thought in concern. This situation was hopeless. Ha Song-Su was too powerful for them to handle.

‘Gi-Gyu…’ Was he really their only hope?

Soo-Jung knew one other way. The problem was that she didn’t know if this was the correct answer.

‘Perhaps I’m being greedy,’ Soo-Jung pondered. Was she being greedy by worrying about the aftermath of using this method?

‘Let’s just keep at it for a while longer…’ Soo-Jung decided. And if there really was no other way, then she won’t hesitate.

Soo-Jung wasn’t too desperate because something was wrong with Ha Song-Su.

Soo-Jung looked up at Ha Song-Su. After Brunheart had created this giant wall, he became much slower. It felt like he was focusing more on defending himself than attacking. This was the only reason they had lasted this long against him.

Just then, Soo-Jung heard El’s voice in her ears.

-The sync is back.