The conference room had been sealed shut for a long time.
Outside, a crowd had gathered like a thick cloud, layering itself all the way up to the castle gates.
They were the users from the Northern Alliance who had failed to stop Kim Su-hyun.
Among them, a few looked ready to burst into the room at any moment, but the overall mood was one of anxious waiting.
Because everyone knew.
They knew the mysterious man had deliberately restrained himself to avoid anyone getting hurt.
And they knew that even if they went inside, it wouldn’t help.
How much time had passed?
A faint click echoed as the door handle turned.
The eyes that had been staring intently at the door sharpened even more.
Moments later, the door silently opened, revealing a figure.
It was Yu Hyun-ah, her face looking a little worn.
The clan members who had been anxiously waiting breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of their clan lord unharmed, but at the same time, their tension spiked even higher.
What had been discussed inside?
What conclusion had been reached?
A flood of questions poured out like a tidal wave, and Yu Hyun-ah stepped forward slowly.
She took a deep breath, steadied her chest, and met the hundreds of eyes fixed on her with great effort.
“Everyone,”
The sacred queen spoke quietly.
“I…”
The alliance between the South and the North!
The announcement that the tyrant Kim Su-yeon and the sacred queen Yu Hyun-ah had joined hands spread instantly across the Northern Continent.
Yet, surprisingly, the shock quickly subsided.
Though the news was undoubtedly earth-shattering, the reaction was relatively subdued.
If anything, the general sentiment was along the lines of, “Well, the Northern Alliance accepted it, after all,” or “So they finally gave in.”
After all, the balance of power had already been severely disrupted when the Eastern Alliance turned their backs, so this outcome wasn’t entirely unexpected.
In the end, the Northern Continent was united once more.
At the same time, the long, tiresome era of warring states finally came to an end.
With the discovery of the new continent, Atlanta, and the looming threat of the demons—a common enemy—joining forces was smoother than anyone had anticipated.
Kim Su-yeon’s prior acceptance of the Eastern Alliance, and the fact that the Northern Alliance was treated as a proper ally, played a positive role.
Still, it was unrealistic to expect everyone to be laughing and chatting happily right away.
After all, they had spent years snarling and fighting as if to devour one another.
This was most evident at the festival held under the pretense of fostering camaraderie before marching on Terra.
“…Maybe this was a mistake after all.”
As the sun set, Kim Su-yeon muttered, clearly fed up with the gloomy atmosphere.
It was a massive festival, large enough to fill the entire inner city of Atlanta, yet everyone only cast wary glances at each other, refusing to speak to users from opposing factions.
The slightest clink of a dropped glass could have sparked a bloody brawl.
Honestly, it felt less like a celebration and more like a last supper before war.
Standing beside her, Yu Hyun-ah gave a bitter smile.
She understood it was inevitable.
If only they could clear the grudges inside, but this was one of those times when “time heals all wounds” was the only fitting phrase.
Yeah.
No matter who he was, even that man couldn’t fix this…
“Ah.”
Suddenly recalling Kim Su-hyun, Yu Hyun-ah instinctively turned her head.
He wasn’t hard to find.
He stood a little apart, gazing blankly up at the night sky.
His detached demeanor was enough to draw anyone’s attention.
Yu Hyun-ah twisted her body slightly and fidgeted with her hands for a long while.
A man from another world.
The very person responsible for forcing this absurd situation.
Yet a user powerful enough to make it possible.
And the man who had boldly declared he had killed her in that other world.
A tangle of complex emotions and curiosity swirled inside her.
The march on Terra wouldn’t be a massive horde but would proceed with a minimal number of people.
More precisely, it would rely on the warp abilities of the two Je-gal Hae-sol twins as the main mode of transport.
Only those who needed to return to the original world and the necessary personnel to pass through the four zones would accompany them.
In fact, this plan was only feasible because Kim Su-hyun was there.
With the Sovereign of the Sword present, no one would hesitate to show up.
Anyway, they said the conquest could be completed within a week at the latest.
If so, this might be the only chance to speak comfortably.
But…
“…”
Why was it that whenever she stood before him, she felt strangely intimidated?
Especially when she looked into his emotionless eyes, a cold shiver ran down her spine.
That inexplicable unease made Yu Hyun-ah hesitate.
Then, for reasons she couldn’t explain, she caught sight of Kim Yu-yeon, dressed in a revealing outfit, and Han So-young, almost naked, sneaking closer.
Summoning some courage from somewhere, Yu Hyun-ah pressed down the fluttering in her chest and boldly closed the distance to Kim Su-hyun.
“Excuse me!”
Suddenly, a sharp, high-pitched scream escaped her.
She had bitten her tongue from moving too hastily.
“…?”
Covering her mouth with one hand, her eyes wide as saucers, Yu Hyun-ah was flustered.
Kim Su-hyun’s face flickered with a look of disbelief.
“Uh… h-hey, are you okay?”
It took him a moment to interpret her words as “I have something to say.”
“Yes.”
Kim Su-hyun replied, his tone stiff and formal, quite different from how he treated the Kim sisters.
Even Sung-hoo wasn’t a fool and slumped his shoulders.
“…Are you upset with me?”
Yu Hyun-ah wanted to tell him to at least deal with the bitten tongue first, but Kim Su-hyun held back.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Yes, yes. You said you killed me in the original world…”
Kim Su-hyun’s expression suddenly turned cold.
“Did I do something wrong?”
He remained silent, quietly sipping his drink.
But as Yu Hyun-ah fidgeted nervously without leaving, he reluctantly spoke.
“You are Yu Hyun-ah from this world—another world.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Then why are you so curious?”
“I thought if I had done something wrong, I could at least apologize…”
Her voice was a little downcast.
Kim Su-hyun sighed deeply, as if the ground had swallowed him.
On one hand, he found it strange himself.
He thought he had changed a lot, but his irritation toward Yu Hyun-ah remained as if she were a demon.
The unpleasant memories of the inn incident didn’t help.
Either way, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling to go back to how things were before.
“You don’t need to apologize. There were reasons for it.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
His firm answer made Yu Hyun-ah frown.
“I’m… sorry…”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“Yes… I really am sorry…”
“Ah, seriously.”
Kim Su-hyun rubbed his forehead.
“This is ridiculous. You could have just told me.”
At that, Banda-hee, who had clearly had too much to drink, shouted from nearby.
Kim Su-hyun’s mouth twisted.
“Come to think of it, it’s partly your fault.”
“What?”
“You tried to kill my comrades for no good reason. They were just rookies who had just graduated from the User Academy.”
“Oh… is that so?”
“It was a situation I intended, though.”
“What?”
Banda-hee wavered, then alternated between sulking and snapping angrily, while Cha Seung-hyun hurriedly pulled her away.
“I don’t know what happened…”
Yu Hyun-ah stammered, still unwilling to give up.
“I’m sure there was no bad intention. If we had just understood each other a little, maybe we could have been friends.”
Was it a coincidence?
Just then, Yu Hyun-ah’s cry from before her death—“I just wanted to be friends…!”—flashed through Kim Su-hyun’s mind.
At the same time, he recalled the scene from the multiverse where Yu Hyun-ah smiled happily in his arms.
“Well… maybe that’s true.”
A reluctant nod.
“Right!?”
Yu Hyun-ah beamed like a puppy being petted by its owner.
Kim Su-hyun forced a strained smile.
“Alright, alright. Enough pointless talk. How about we focus on something constructive? Even if we conquer Terra, the demons might not give up so easily.”
Quick-witted Jung Ha-yeon cut in at the perfect moment.
“To be honest, I wish Su-hyun would help a bit more. I know it’s shameless to say so.”
She quickly changed the subject.
“I’ve already passed the important information to Kim Su-yeon. And now that the Northern Continent is united, Satan won’t move lightly. We can’t let our guard down, though.”
A polite refusal.
In truth, Kim Su-hyun felt guilty asking for more help after having weakened the demon faction and forced the Northern Continent into a truce.
Still, he looked apologetic even as he declined.
A soft voice whispered in Yu Hyun-ah’s ear, making her pout.
No matter how much she disliked it, wasn’t there too much difference in how he treated people?
“Still, wouldn’t it be easier if you took down Satan for us?”
Just as she grumbled inwardly, a clear voice interrupted.
It was Je-gal Hae-sol.
“Are you telling me to go all the way to the Southern Continent?”
“No? We can do it right here, can’t we?”
Kim Su-hyun, who had been seriously wondering if Je-gal Hae-sol was his wife or not, glanced up at those words.
“Right here?”
“Yes. I can’t guarantee it’ll work for sure, but if it does, great. If not, well, there’s nothing we can do.”
“How do you mean?”
“Look at this person. Forgotten already? Since user Kim Su-yeon’s been around for seven years, by now those should be in her user shop list.”
Jegal Haesol glanced around.
“There are plenty of people here, so no worries about GP. If you run short, just use yours.”
Then, without warning, he grabbed Ansol—who was happily enjoying her meal—and hoisted her up into the air.
“Huh?”
“Besides, you’ve got the most important lucky charm right here. Add a little miracle on top, and it’s definitely worth a shot, isn’t it?”
Kim Su-hyun, watching Ansol squirm and plead to be put down, suddenly realized what Jegal Haesol was getting at.
Using GP like this is risky—you can’t really say you break even.
“Still, summoning even an evil god… Well, I suppose a demon is nothing to sneeze at…”
Kim Su-hyun muttered to herself for a moment, then her eyes suddenly cleared.
“…Shall we give it a try?”
She had made up her mind.
“Shall we?”
Jegal Haesol smiled broadly.
Satan’s blood-red pupils slit wide as he looked down.
Beneath his feet lay the fruits of years of painstaking effort—the culmination of all his work.
Demons, the demon race’s armies, brainwashed human users, fallen fairies…
And beyond that, the assembled forces gathered from across the whole Hole Plane formed a spectacle so grand it could be called breathtaking.
“Heh heh, heh heh heh…”
How much effort had it taken to build this kind of power?
Though he’d received reports that the seven great demons sent to Atlanta were unreachable, it didn’t matter.
From now on, this was a fight he simply could not lose.
The prophecy of the Great Plan kept urging him to return, but that was fine.
Everything would be proven by the results.
Soon, the Zero Code—the very thing the Great Plan had longed for—would be in his grasp.
Through the demon’s eyes, the destruction of the Heavenly Realm was already vividly clear.
But sentimentality ended there.
Since an anomaly had occurred, Satan wasn’t the type to relax and take it easy.
Whatever trick had been played, it was time to reveal the secret weapons he had been steadily building.
Gathering his thoughts, Satan looked over the countless troops awaiting his command and spoke in a low, grand voice.
“All units—listen up.”
His wicked yet majestic voice echoed across the field.
Then, just as he was about to speak again, a white magic circle suddenly appeared above his head.
“From now on—”
Before he could finish, Satan was engulfed in a brilliant beam of light and vanished from his spot as if sucked into the magic circle in midair.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
“…”
Satan calmly surveyed the changed surroundings after the instant teleport.
Though surprised by the forced relocation, he was no novice to the point of showing emotion.
Only the sharp smells of food and metallic blood bothered him slightly.
What was especially strange was the countless monster corpses scattered around where he now stood.
Among them were powerful creatures like Medusas and Basilisks.
No, that wasn’t the important part.
What caught his attention were the strange square boxes lying haphazardly on the ground, their number matching the fallen monsters.
Having taken note of that, Satan finally raised his head.
“?”
Then he clearly saw it.
The northern continent users had formed layered encirclements, and a dazzling array of weapons flashed in the distance.
Moments later, when he spotted Kim Su-yeon standing there with her mouth agape, Satan’s own expression went blank.
And he said,
“Huh?”
---------------------------= Author’s Note ---------------------------=
Honestly, ever since I introduced the monster summoning box in the main story, I’ve been dying to use this scene.
Sorry, Satan…