Let’s rewind time a bit, to when the pillar’s awakening had just begun.
As is typical wherever the Law’s domain extends, a pale, ghostly air hung about ten kilometers from the altar’s location.
But something was off. Though thick fog blanketed the area so densely that you couldn’t see a foot ahead anywhere, the passing breeze here carried a chilling coldness that sent shivers down the spine.
In that eerie silence, suddenly the hazy atmosphere flickered and danced like shadows cast by a campfire. Amid the wavering heat haze, a faint, pale blue smoke briefly appeared before vanishing again.
Despite the sun being high overhead, the day felt cold. And the occasional gusts of wind hinted at a barely contained, deadly tension ready to explode.
“Phew.”
A soft breath escaped, and slowly, a figure emerged from the thick fog. The faint glimmers of light revealed a pair of eyes—narrowed sharply, gleaming with a fierce intensity. More precisely, it was a woman with pointed ears, her gaze razor-sharp.
‘Has it begun?’
Erwin squinted harder, focusing his gaze. The fog nearby swirled in an unusually perfect circle.
Inside that circle, surprisingly, an image was forming. Though blurred by the mist, it clearly showed the altar’s situation, as if viewed from above.
Moments later, watching the pillars in the image respond one by one, Erwin lowered his eyes slightly.
‘The prophecy was right after all.’
A prophecy.
A new queen had appeared. And at last, four queens had taken their places beside the king.
What’s fascinating is that the Grand Prophecy had never once been wrong. Just now, part of it had come true.
In any case, events were unfolding rapidly. A massive orb of light had risen in the sky, casting a cascade of colorful beams down to the earth.
One prophecy remained unfulfilled.
The demon had met the first condition for defeat by diversification.
Satan had fixated on the word ‘diversification.’ In the dictionary sense, it meant the prophecy could branch into multiple outcomes depending on circumstances. So Satan had ordered a deliberate defeat when the Eastern Continent clashed with the Northern Continent.
In other words, the Eastern Continent’s loss wasn’t mere bad luck.
It was a sacrifice.
At that moment, the image flooded with light, and Kim Soo-hyun’s figure vanished. Now, one king and four queens faced the Zero Code’s trial.
Even Satan couldn’t predict how things would unfold from here.
Of course, it might have been a reckless move. If anyone called it a foolish gamble over mere wordplay, there’d be little to argue.
But whether that defeat was a pointless blunder or the catalyst for a massive butterfly effect, no one could say yet. Satan simply chose to trust the prophecy that had never once failed. The outcome would soon reveal itself.
With that in mind, Erwin slowly straightened his slightly bent back. He had done all he could. He’d tried to instill certainty in Kim Soo-hyun through the Eastern Continent’s defeat and secretly rallied their forces behind the scenes.
Now, only one thing remained.
It was time to see for himself whether the sacrifice had been accepted or not.
“So…”
At that moment, a quiet voice came from behind.
“Now that the king and queens have vanished, is it time for the full-scale assault?”
Thanatos crossed his arms, wearing a lazy smile.
But Erwin shook his head firmly.
There was no doubt that now, with Kim Soo-hyun gone, was the perfect moment to strike. It had been the plan all along, and Erwin had no intention of missing this golden opportunity.
Still, attacking blindly just because Kim Soo-hyun disappeared would be foolish—like handing over a hard-won chance without a fight.
In fact, the Northern Continent still wasn’t sure where the enemy was, or even if they had arrived. And though the fog was thinning, it would take considerable time before it fully lifted. Erwin intended to make the most of this situation first.
And above all—
From watching countless carefully laid plans get dismantled, he’d learned one thing: information. Or rather, vigilance.
Especially Satan had seen it with his own eyes—how Lucifer’s ancient demon god scheme had been broken, by whom, and how.
“Are you seriously thinking of destroying the warp gate first?”
Lilith spoke up hesitantly, but Erwin shook his head again. It was as if the idea didn’t even merit consideration. Asmodeus, who had nodded approvingly at the suggestion, blinked in surprise.
“Satan—no, Erwin! If it’s not this, and not that, then just say it quickly. One of them is acting strange, we need to move fast…!”
Astaroth, who had been glancing at the image, spoke anxiously. Erwin brushed the image aside with a hand and turned around.
“Lilith, Asmodeus, Astaroth.”
In truth—
There was one thing.
More important than seizing the perfect moment, more urgent than targeting the warp gate.
If asked to rank its importance, it far surpassed the other two.
Why?
Simple.
Because we’ve been caught off guard by it again and again.
“This is an order.”
The demon’s expression changed instantly. Even setting aside the return to his usual tone, the words themselves carried a commanding weight.
As the so-called ‘King of All Demons,’ even the Great Demons tacitly acknowledged Satan as their leader. So even if the tone felt forceful, it wasn’t taken as offensive.
Yet, Satan—who valued independence above all—rarely gave orders. This meant one thing: the instructions to come were extremely, critically important.
“Inform the demon lords as well. From now on, by any means necessary, this woman is our top priority.”
Erwin pointed at the image, and the Great Demons’ faces all shifted subtly. No one spoke up, as if caught off guard by the directive.
“Thanatos, I’m counting on you too.”
Thanatos, who had been watching the image, tilted his head.
“Hmmm… Well? I don’t mind the request, but is she really that important?”
“Very important.”
“More than the warp gate? You want to pour all our resources into taking her out, even at the cost of the advantage a surprise attack would bring? Seriously?”
“If we don’t kill her in the first strike, we could lose even battles without Kim Soo-hyun.”
Thanatos fell silent. Though he still looked puzzled, Satan’s words were no joke. Eventually, a smirk tugged at his lips.
“Well, if that’s the case, sniping her for a year won’t be hard.”
With Thanatos’s agreement, Erwin glanced into the void and finally made up his mind. They didn’t know when Kim Soo-hyun would reappear, and giving her more time would be foolish.
Moments later.
A pair of bat wings tore open from Erwin’s back, spreading wide. As he quietly took to the air, Thanatos, the Great Demons, and the demon lords all followed. Before long, they vanished between the drifting clouds.
At the same time, the thick fog that had blanketed the area began to thin.
Ssssss, ssssss!
Slowly but surely, it started to clear.
Is what I’m experiencing now real, or just a dream? I pinched my cheek, but it didn’t change—so probably not a dream.
When I was riding on the shadow giant’s shoulder, I still half-doubted it. The memories from the first cycle were so vivid, it was hard to believe.
But as time passed, my skepticism gradually gave way to belief. Or rather, it had to. Especially after we sped out of the shadow zone and entered the next area.
Just as I suspected.
The moment we entered the Blade Zone, I saw countless swords of all kinds flying through the sky—too many to count. At the same time, my lingering doubts turned into full certainty.
At first, Mar screamed when thousands of blades surged toward us. But it was a needless worry. Because, just like in the shadow zone, none of the blades actually pierced us.
“Wow…”
Nam Da-eun, the ‘Queen of Blades,’ kept marveling at the spinning swords surrounding her.
It was actually kind of funny. Whenever Nam Da-eun tried to reach out, the blades would dart away as if afraid of hurting her, only to circle back gently and resume their dance around her. It was like watching loyal followers guarding their queen.
The only difference from the shadow zone was that some of the blades seemed to pay attention to me too.
Even now, a relatively small sword—looking like a silver dagger—lingered near me, hesitating. I’m not sure why, but maybe it’s because I’m called the sword’s master. Should I test it out?
I waited until the blade came close, then subtly reached out and snatched it. To my surprise, the silver dagger pretended to flee for a moment, then surrendered without resistance. The instant I quietly slipped it into my mouth, I felt the blade tremble slightly, but as I gently rolled it with my tongue and swallowed, a sensation of slackening spread through me.
The reaction was so strange and fascinating that I almost bit down hard on it, but Han So-young had been giving me weird looks since earlier, so I held back. At least I’d confirmed it wasn’t hostile.
Once the ritual ended, a guiding force led us onward, just like in the Shadow Zone. Without wasting time, we climbed aboard a massive greatsword that had descended from the sky—riding it felt like surfing on a superboard—and swiftly left the zone behind.
The third zone, the Ironblood Zone, we passed through faster than ever. Shadows and blades had their own odd charm, but the steel soldiers stained with blood were grotesque to behold.
Fortunately, the general commanding those soldiers wasn’t the type to put on airs. We were escorted silently and respectfully, riding horses as we crossed the zone.
When we reached the fourth, the Sacred Zone, we hesitated a bit. The moment we entered, radiant clusters of light appeared everywhere, and eventually, they gathered around Mar, standing still for quite some time—as if observing her carefully.
I had my suspicions about why this was happening, so it was the tensest moment since we’d entered the domain. If Mar wasn’t recognized as queen, we might have to fight.
Thankfully, the feared outcome never came. After a long silence, the light clusters scattered bright specks of light, signaling that Mar had been accepted as queen. Then again, maybe it had been decided the moment she was forcibly summoned here.
By rough calculation, it hadn’t even taken three hours to get this far. Suddenly, an old memory surfaced.
Back in the first run, after clearing the four zones, a user named Yang Gi-deok once said something like this: the expedition had taken half a year to reach the Temple of Promise.
But the actual distance was only about six hours on foot. I remember how shocking that announcement was at the time.
Yet this time, we’d passed through all the zones in less than half that time—without swinging a single sword or breaking a sweat.
Bathed in the silent blessing the light clusters bestowed, we breezed through the Sacred Zone nonstop.
And then.
At last.
As we emerged from the Sacred Zone, before our eyes stood the grand final gate.
---------------------------= Author’s Note ---------------------------=
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