Han So-young’s strange insistence left Kim Soo-yeon with a perplexed expression.
Kim Yoo-yeon suddenly snapped, stepping between them with a fierce glare.
To an outsider unaware of the situation, this might have seemed like a trivial, even amusing scene.
But this place was a battlefield.
A warzone where spears and swords clashed, and spilled blood flowed like a river.
A place where any unexpected event could erupt at any moment.
Just like now.
“?”
The first to sense something was wrong was Kim Soo-hyun, still caught in mental turmoil.
Almost simultaneously, the three women turned their gazes beyond the castle walls, as if by unspoken agreement.
In the twilight sky, a dark speck appeared, growing larger as it rapidly approached.
Flying through the air at a terrifying speed, it was something fierce enough to make the hair on their necks stand on end.
Within less than ten seconds, it transformed into a girl.
They only realized the fluttering thing was her jet-black hair when she stopped about twenty meters away.
“No way! The intel said Thanatos was involved…!”
“Soo-yeon, Istantel Low Lord!”
Kim Yoo-yeon’s urgent voice cut through, pulling out a communication orb as if the current moment wasn’t the time for that.
Kim Soo-yeon blinked, startled, and Han So-young hurriedly pulled out her own orb.
“Oh!”
A petite yet mature-looking beauty on the castle wall looked up and gasped.
Kim Soo-hyun glanced down subtly, her eyes suddenly sharpening.
Because the woman below was someone she knew well.
“Thanatos?”
Her voice was barely a whisper, but Thanatos’s eyes curved into a sly smile as she parted her lips.
“Wow, you know me?”
Kim Soo-yeon glanced sideways at Kim Soo-hyun, but her expression was unreadable.
Thanatos studied Kim Soo-hyun carefully, then lifted the corners of her mouth and nodded.
“So, it really is you.”
Those words carried layers of meaning.
“Interesting.”
Thanatos chuckled darkly, alternating her gaze between Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Soo-yeon.
After all, she was a god of the highest order.
There was no way Thanatos didn’t know what Hwa-jeong knew.
“Interfering across space and time, meddling in multiple universes… This world never ceases to amaze me. Anyway, welcome!”
Thanatos spread her arms wide and shouted at a dizzying speed.
“Thanks.”
Kim Soo-hyun smiled faintly, thinking, “So she’s here too,” and returned the greeting.
Thanatos’s laughter abruptly shifted to a more serious tone.
Though still laced with mockery, there was a faint hint of, “Well, look at this.”
“You…”
After a brief pause, Thanatos opened her mouth again.
But the sudden clamor around them drowned out her words.
Kim Yoo-yeon and Han So-young had quickly circulated their communications, summoning reinforcements.
Thanatos frowned as she watched more users climb the castle walls.
Kim Soo-hyun, observing the movements of their allies, tilted her head in confusion.
‘This is strange.’
Thanatos, a god of the highest rank, was undeniably a dangerous opponent.
Just her terrifying title—the God of Death—was enough to inspire fear.
But the Northern Continent wasn’t completely defenseless.
Even gods were avatars, after all, and with Hwa-jeong assisting Kim Soo-yeon, they could hold their own.
In fact, when Thanatos first appeared in the original world, Kim Soo-hyun had not only faced her but completely overwhelmed her.
Yet the allies around them radiated intense hostility toward Thanatos, coupled with unmistakable fear.
The hostility was understandable, but the excessive fear was puzzling.
“Haaaah—.”
Thanatos placed both hands on her hips and let out a heavy sigh, almost exaggerated in its depth.
She then smacked her lips indifferently and opened her eyes half-lidded.
“I’ll let you off if you disappear quietly right now…”
Kim Soo-hyun almost laughed at the offer, but seeing the tense reactions around her, she blinked.
The sound of swallowed saliva echoed everywhere; everyone was clearly on edge.
“I’m serious. Actually, I came here on my own accord. I have business with that guy.”
In other words, Thanatos only needed Kim Soo-hyun here, and if the others left quietly, she’d spare them.
She was clearly annoyed.
What was even more baffling was that, despite this seemingly generous offer, no one dared to speak up.
Not even Kim Soo-hyun.
“Shut up! You monster!”
Suddenly, a desperate shout rang out from one side.
It was Jang Hana, her voice trembling so badly it was painfully obvious.
“You… because of you…!”
“Ah?”
Thanatos narrowed her eyes, and the woman pointing at her hesitated and stepped back.
Thanatos smirked and leisurely clenched her right hand into a fist.
Kim Soo-yeon quickly stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
“Hmph.”
“I said don’t, Thanatos.”
“Shut up. You haven’t even reached your third awakening yet. I’m not interested in you anymore. Besides…”
Thanatos snapped back fiercely, fixing her gaze once more on Kim Soo-hyun.
“I heard you took out Asmodeus in one blow?”
Kim Soo-hyun didn’t respond, not even a flicker of reaction.
She simply stared quietly with her usual indifferent expression.
“You know…”
A cold, sinister laugh escaped Thanatos.
Then, in the next instant, she lightly extended her right hand—
“Get out of the way!”
Kim Soo-yeon screamed.
Bang!
A massive explosion tore a hole through the castle wall in an instant.
Ash and debris scattered in the air.
Where the woman had just stood, nothing remained but the gaping hole and patches of blood seeping through the cracks.
“Thanatossss!”
Kim Soo-yeon’s furious roar echoed across the battlefield.
“I can do that too, you know~.”
Ignoring the chaos, Thanatos grinned and waved her right hand teasingly.
A blatant provocation.
There was only one reason she was pushing this far.
She was fueled by pride against this being who had forcibly interfered in her world.
Of course, with the grand title of God of Death, knocking out a few humans wasn’t much to boast about.
But Kim Soo-hyun could sense the source of Thanatos’s confidence.
To put it bluntly, this world’s God of Death radiated power at least twice as strong as the original Thanatos.
How she regained such strength was a mystery.
But one thing was certain: thousands, maybe tens of thousands of users had been sacrificed to feed Thanatos.
And considering Asmodeus’s case…
‘The Eastern and Southern Continents are completely ruined.’
Kim Soo-hyun shook her head.
The Atlanta campaign was delayed, demons had already appeared on the front lines, and the Northern Continent was still embroiled in civil war.
That alone was bad enough, but now Thanatos had shown up.
The more she learned about this world, the more astonishing it became.
Honestly, it was hard to say this was any better than the first run.
It was almost a miracle they were still holding on.
Setting aside how things had gotten this bad in the first place.
“But you know~ I’m really curious about something~.”
While sorting through her thoughts, Thanatos hummed a tune like she was singing.
“You came from another world, right? So, how was I in your world?”
“…Dead.”
After a long silence, Kim Soo-hyun finally spoke.
Her answer was brief, though her gaze was slightly unfocused.
“Dead? By whom?”
“By me.”
“How did you die?”
“Begging for my life.”
Thanatos fell silent.
Her gleeful eyes darkened, now radiating a sharp, threatening light.
Being a god, she wasn’t easily baited by cheap provocations.
But her carefree attitude from earlier was deeply irritating.
A mere human.
Right here, right now, the only one who could wield absolute power was herself—the god.
With that thought, Thanatos gave a crooked smile.
“I’m looking forward to it~. But I wonder if your skills match your mouth~?”
Kim Soo-hyun stepped forward, passing Kim Soo-yeon.
Thanatos, who had been ready to fight, suddenly looked stunned.
Kim Soo-hyun stood precariously at the edge of the castle wall, hands shoved casually into her pockets.
Words could provoke all they wanted.
She could just brush it off.
But to show such an attitude before a fight was the ultimate insult.
Whatever her intention, there was a limit to Thanatos’s patience.
“I’ll give you three seconds. Take your hands out. If you don’t want to die.”
Crack, crack.
Thanatos narrowed her eyes and muttered in a low voice as she cracked her knuckles.
“You…?”
At that moment, Kim Soo-yeon, watching Kim Soo-hyun, flinched involuntarily.
“……”
For the first time since entering this world, Kim Soo-hyun’s expression changed.
No, it was the first time she’d ever shown such seriousness since returning to the Whole Plane.
“Playing around, huh.”
Thanatos’s lips twisted.
“If you get serious…”
Then, just like before, he clenched his right hand tightly.
“What are you gonna do?”
Suddenly, he lunged straight ahead with full force.
“Take this!”
That was the moment.