Lounging in the containment room with the Golden Reaper, Yerin immediately turned up the TV volume upon hearing news of the Gray Reaper’s appearance.
In the deputy director’s office, Seoah watched the same news with rapt attention.
[ Reports from Russia indicate that certain areas of Siberia are completely unobservable. ]
The TV was explaining in detail about the mysterious Object situation that was currently unfolding in Siberia.
[ Reports state that both humans and drones vanish the moment they cross the snowfield’s boundary. ]
[ It is said that not only do they lose control, but they disappear entirely, even when tracked by satellite. ]
Even hearing about it, the Object phenomenon seemed nearly impossible to handle.
However, the high-definition long-range photos of the Gray Reaper broadcasted afterward revealed an unexpected outcome.
The Gray Reaper crossed the boundary with its unique gait and continued to walk across the snowfield without vanishing.
The camera continuously filming the Gray Reaper as it continued to walk began to show the Gray Reaper’s current appearance. It stood still, unmoving, its golden eyes blankly gazing at the sky.
It almost looked entranced, lost in daydream as it stared at the rising moon.
Seoah turned away from the TV, and asked the Bud Reaper for its opinion.
However, the Bud Reaper, who always sat on the monitor and loafed around, was nowhere to be seen.
Seoah turned her head, only to spot the Bud Reaper sticking into the slightly opened lid of the lunchbox she had prepared.
It’s secretly eating again.
Was it because she often played with the Bud Reaper or because she often interacted with it? Or maybe it was because the mental bond or mind corruption level had deepened, the Bud Reaper, once a mere illusion only Seoah could see, had started affecting reality.
On the bright side, it was smart enough to help with small tasks. On the downside, it had a habit of sneaking food out of her lunchbox.
Unlike the other Mini Reapers, the Bud Reaper had little interest in sweets or pudding. It seemed to enjoy startling Seoah more than the food itself.
Seoah exhaled a long sigh and grabbed the Bud Reaper’s tiny foot, revealing the Sprout Reaper with a large sausage in its mouth.
The Bud Reaper grinned mischievously, as if to say, Oops! You caught me! Seoah couldn’t help but smile, her urge to scold it fading instantly.
Before me stood a man and a Blue Girl, who bore a striking resemblance to the young version of the Leader of the Eye Cult‘
The moment I saw them, I thrust my hand forward, ready to tear the fabric of space apart.
The target was the blue girl.
Even at a closer glance, she was unmistakably the Blue Girl. But I didn’t hesitate.
If she was the real Blue Girl, she would be in an alleyway right now, being chased by ninjas.
My intuition whispered that this wasn’t the real Blue Girl. It was likely a black Hermit Crab, contaminated with evolution fluid.
Even if I was mistaken, the world would reset once more.
Another reset would be risky, but I placed my bet, this Blue Girl was a fake.
As I clenched the space in my grip, I felt the firewood within me begin to burn away.
More firewood disappeared than I thought, perhaps this body was less efficient than the Gray Reaper’s. Still, it wasn’t a major issue.
The amount of firewood in the body of Isekai Yerin was overflowing like an ocean. Instead of burning in teaspoons, it now burned in tablespoons.
As I slowly tightened my grip, space warped and twisted. A huge force surged toward the Blue Girl, as if an invisible hand was grabbing the space itself.
The fake Blue Girl struggled to break free, but she was powerless against the overwhelming force distorting space itself.
Her form warped and compressed, as if an enormous hand were squeezing her existence.
At the same time, my hand was slowly twisting.
Had I been in the Gray Reaper’s body, my hand would have merely darkened. But for a human, the pain was unbearable.
Gritting my teeth against the searing pain, I tightened my grip on space once more.
Then, five scars tore through the earth, sky, and space itself, surrounding the Blue Girl before the fabric of reality finally ripped open.
Beyond the traces of a human tearing apart the space itself, a pitch-black void was surging.
Under the unbearable pressure, the fake Blue Girl disintegrated into unrecognizable fragments.
Amid shards of the fake Blue Girl scattered, a piercing scream rang out, the voice of a man who resembled the cult leader. The man reached out toward the blood in confusion, but his expression soon changed to one of bewilderment.
The pungent scent of blood faded, replaced by the acrid stench of petroleum. The scattered chunks of flesh twisted, revealing nothing more than shattered shells.
“Evolution fluid? And a Hermit Crab that’s stained black…”
His hands, once desperately clutching at the air, slowly fell to his sides. His gaze drifted, dazed and uncertain.
“A fake? But the Hermit Crabs belong to the Purple Moon… Why would they do this?”
Still reeling, he muttered to himself, piecing together the situation before regaining his composure.
“The child must be in danger.”
Realizing the Blue Girl was still being pursued by ninjas, the man hastily began sketching an enormous symbol on the ground.
The moment the intricate symbol was complete, the Blue Girl suddenly materialized from thin air.
“Wow, I almost died!”
The Blue Girl, who had been chased by the ninjas just a moment ago, finally felt alive and fell to the ground.
“Teacher, what took you so long? Did something go wrong?”
How could that thorough teacher of hers have failed to keep his promise?
The Blue Girl’s face twisted in confusion as she asked.
But instead of answering, the man remained silent, simply pointing toward the shattered remnants of a black Hermit Crab.
Yet, when the Blue Girl followed his gaze, she didn’t see a broken Hermit Crab, she saw a girl.
The girl was dressed in elegant black-and-white attire, her presence suspicious. But the Blue Girl didn’t seem to care.
The girl in black and white slowly took a wary step backward, her face twisted in irritation. But before she could retreat further, the Blue Girl lunged forward, wrapping her in a tight embrace before turning to her master.
“Master, who is this child? Your new disciple?”
Her eyes gleamed with overwhelming excitement, almost to an unbearable degree, as she questioned her master.
As expected, the moment she saw me, the Blue Girl seized me in her arms, rubbing me like an overexcited child.
She clung to me every time I met her, so it was easier to just give up and be held in her arms.
Well… Mini Yerin was cute. Not much I could do about that.
If there was an Object that could de-age people, I’d definitely turn the real Yerin into Mini Yerin too.
The Blue Girl was holding me in her arms and having a serious conversation with her teacher.
Of course, the man who seemed to be the leader of the cult wasn’t too keen on me overhearing their discussion.
But thanks to the Blue Girl’s unwavering insistence that This child is definitely an ally!, I was able to join them.
The blue girl said with a serious face.
“It’s another failure.”
She lifted a large, heavy jade plate, its deep green surface gleaming under the light.
According to the Blue Girl, this jade plate was an artifact from the age of ancient alchemists, a sacred relic of the cult, deemed indestructible by any alchemical method or magical tome.
Fourteen inscriptions were etched into the jade, but some had been violently scratched out, as if clawed by something sharp.
It was a strange thing to see in a jade plate that was absolutely unbreakable.
The girl’s finger hovered over a specific sentence.
< I, with the power of a true god, bestow the wisdom to defeat ■ ■ ■. >
However, on the jade plate, the ‘what that could defeat it was damaged beyond recognition.
“As expected, any mention of that entity within the sect’s sacred relic has been erased.”
Sighing, the Blue Girl continued.
“Even the writing on this so-called indestructible jade plate has been defaced.”
Holding her head, she muttered, Where am I supposed to find this information now?‘
She rummaged through her bag, pulling out a stack of ancient-looking documents.
Starting with the parchment made into an Object, they were documents that seemed to have been around for a considerable amount of time.
And each and every one of those documents had a part that had been erased by sharp claws.
As I scanned the damaged texts, a strange tingling sensation stirred within my chest.
Probably because it’s already time when the Blue Girl should have died and time would have started to rewind, strange phenomena began unfolding across the city under the purple moon.
The night sky became a canvas for cryptic symbols and intricate patterns, growing ever more elaborate, an omen of something yet to come.
Items caught in the moon’s glow lifted into the air, drifting weightlessly as if gravity no longer applied.
Reflections in mirrors and windows warped, twisting into grotesque, unrecognizable forms.
Flowers that had bloomed unnaturally under the night sky wept crimson blood, their petals glowing with an eerie red light.
Shadows caught in the moon’s glow twitched and moved on their own, no longer bound to their owners’ actions.
The distorted shadows under the purple moonlight seemed like a passageway to another world.
As the city descended into fear and chaos, the Blue Girl and the Gray Reaper remained oblivious.