A tiny head slowly turned to the side. The moment their eyes met, Thanatos suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of disgust.
The cluster of small, angry eyes that had been fuming just moments ago now sank into a cold, indifferent stare, as if looking at a bug. One eye was raised in a sneer of contempt—an expression that instantly reminded him of someone.
“Hand.”
The pain—
“Take it off.”
Came far more suddenly than expected.
“Didn’t you?”
At first, it was just a slight sting.
But the instant he registered the sensation—
“Uh, uh…?”
The hand resting on his shoulder was suddenly engulfed in flames. The heat seeped through his skin, penetrating deep inside, mixing with the flowing blood, and spreading rapidly throughout his entire body.
There was no warning, no sign. Not even a sound. Just in the blink of an eye, a terrifying pain swept over him, as if his very soul was being scorched by fire.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Thanatos screamed, ripping his hand away and wildly thrashing on the ground. No matter how hard he pounded the earth, trying to snuff out the flames or counteract the energy, it only fed the fire, burning him all the more.
“Kyah! Kyaaaaaaah!”
“Eek! Shut up! Why do you have to be so loud?”
The fire finally died down when Suna, who had covered one ear, frowned and waved her hand dismissively. Thanatos’s eyes, which had been writhing like a struggling octopus, snapped open. The fiery torment that had plagued his entire body vanished in an instant.
Catching his breath, he slowly rose and stared at her with a dazed, defeated expression. The calm confidence he’d held since the start of the battle was gone, replaced only by disbelief.
Meanwhile, Suna lightly jumped and settled gracefully in midair. Struggling a bit, she crossed her legs and rested her chin on her hand with a sigh.
“…!”
The moment Thanatos confirmed her poised, floating posture, the vague sense of déjà vu he’d felt earlier suddenly became clear. Lava-colored hair. Deep, blood-red eyes. And especially that arrogant look, as if she was looking down on him.
“…Gehenna? No, no. Who are you?”
It couldn’t be Gehenna. Even setting aside appearances, the aura he’d just sensed was subtly different from hers. The destructive power surpassed Gehenna’s terror, and the eternal nature exceeded even Hwajeong’s.
It was no wonder Thanatos couldn’t understand. The coexistence of two opposing attributes was hard enough to believe.
“She seems to have some rank… but not worth my time. Honestly, what can you do with a broken vessel?”
Suna immediately noticed Thanatos’s condition at a glance. But for him, figuring out who she was mattered more than being surprised.
“I asked who you are—aaaaaah!”
He shouted again, but suddenly clutched his face and collapsed. Flames sparked on his lips as the same excruciating pain struck him once more.
“Where do you think you’re raising your voice? Can’t you be quiet?”
Suna said arrogantly, waving her hand again, and the thrashing fish that was Thanatos suddenly went still.
Her voice continued.
“…No, keep babbling. That way, the urge to kill you will outweigh my curiosity.”
Her tone was sharp and commanding, unlike the little girl she appeared to be earlier.
In other words, “Raise your voice one more time and you die.” Thanatos understood perfectly. Trembling all over, he struggled to lift his head, revealing a face mixed with shock and humiliation. As a god of death revered by many, when had he ever suffered such disgrace?
Yet, meeting Suna’s indifferent, lowered gaze without any emotion, Thanatos felt an inexplicable chill. Only now did he realize—despite standing right in front of her, he couldn’t sense even the slightest trace of her energy.
There were only two possible explanations. Either the perceiver was an ordinary being with no power, or the other’s rank was so incomprehensibly high it couldn’t be measured. Since Thanatos was no ordinary being, it had to be the latter.
Understanding this, fear finally flickered across Thanatos’s face.
“This can’t be… I, I’m the one? You’re not… the Ten Thousand, are you?”
Suna seemed pleased by his expression, smiling cutely (though she thought it sultry) as she spoke.
“Well, I don’t really get what you mean… but it looks like you don’t know me, yet you know Gehenna?”
Thanatos nodded blankly.
“Then why not come ask me yourself?”
Just as she said this, Suna reached out her arm.
“Grrrgh!”
Bang!
Thanatos let out a strange groan and suddenly leapt back. At the same time, a dark curtain about ten meters wide spread around her like Kim Soo-hyun’s domain declaration. Reacting instinctively to the unknown power, he braced himself.
“…Huh. That’s your domain?”
Suna’s reaction was even more amusing. She gave a disdainful glance, clicked her tongue, and shook her head.
“If you’re going to declare your domain, you’ve got to do it like this.”
As if to teach a lesson, she suddenly stretched out her half-raised arm fully and snapped her fingers.
That moment—
Snap!
Her small thumb and middle finger clicked.
Woom, woom, woom!
In an instant, three deep, resonant sounds echoed. It all happened so fast no one else could tell what was going on—except for Thanatos.
In less than a tenth of a second, the colors of the entire world shifted four times. From its original hue to ash gray, then to crimson, and back to normal—all before a single blink.
Rumble rumble rumble!
What followed was a sudden tower rising. More precisely, the ground shook as if from an earthquake, and a tower burst through the earth, soaring high into the sky.
Some of the Northern Continent’s users watching gasped softly. The tower’s shape was almost identical to a landmark near Atlanta.
Suna gracefully settled onto the throne atop the protruding tower. Moments later, as something began to spread flat and wide beneath the tower, the world started to change.
Like painting on a blue canvas, vivid red hues slowly draped over the solid earth.
Fireflies glowing a clear crimson scattered like snowflakes in the once-clear sky.
The sky itself was now dyed a brilliant red.
When the entire world had turned crimson—
“…”
Thanatos, stunned, unknowingly dropped to his knees. He instinctively knew this domain declaration was on a completely different level from the power he wielded.
To put it bluntly, Suna had declared the entire area as a domain under the king’s will. There was only one place in all dimensions where this was possible—the space that witnessed the birth and death of a king: the Infinite Hell. In other words, she had manifested an infinite hell zone here.
This was the true meaning of domain declaration that Suna had spoken of.
But the surprises weren’t over yet.
“Gehenna, Mercedes.”
Still resting her chin on her hand, Suna tapped the tower lightly.
The moment she spoke in a bored tone, the tower shone with a dazzling, silent light. Since Suna’s domain declaration forcibly overlapped the Eight Heat zone of the intermediate world, it meant she could summon the entire demon army of hell at will. Whether she needed to or not was another matter.
Kwarrrr!
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, from the left side of the tower, where flames briefly swirled fiercely before vanishing, a woman appeared, revealing a graceful figure.
Her lava-colored hair cascaded in waves. Her flawless, elegant body held a long whip of fire with poise. This woman was none other than Gehenna.
The hellish terror who had single-handedly overwhelmed fifteen thousand elite users of the Northern Continent had finally descended onto the battlefield.
Furururu!
“And how did the vanished king summon you… oh my?”
On the tower’s right side, a chill-like flame dimmed, revealing a blue-haired woman dressed in a maid’s outfit. Her eyes were gently closed, and her slightly parted lips showed a look of surprise.
She was certainly an unusual woman. Her pale skin and the shimmering cold mist around her should have made her seem icy, but the fiery aura she gave off made her feel strangely warm.
Her hands were politely folded at the top of her skirt, standing perfectly still in a posture that suggested a clever and modest lady.
Yet, the maid’s top exposed more skin than necessary, and the small beauty mark beneath her left eye, along with her ripe apple-red lips, gave off a subtle, sensual vibe.
On top of that, when you tug the corset just a little, her ripe breasts seem ready to burst free, and a mysterious, almost teasing smile plays at the corner of her lips… In any case, she’s a woman with a sensual figure that Kim Soo-hyun would definitely throw himself at without hesitation.
A moment later.
Without a word, Suna just smiled quietly, and suddenly both women’s gazes locked onto the same spot. Then, almost simultaneously, they spoke.
“Hmm? Thanatos?”
“Oh my, isn’t that the bastard?”
…I still don’t know why the maid called him a bastard, but it’s clear from their tone that they know who Thanatos is.
“Oh ho. Life really does throw all kinds of surprises at you.”
Gehenna said with a hint of fascination, flexing her wrist sharply. Maybe it was the dimensional buff allowing her to unleash her full strength, or perhaps she’d simply lost her grip on reality in this utterly absurd situation.
Thanatos silently accepted the fiery whip that sliced through the air, offering his neck without resistance.
With a sharp snap, the whip coiled tightly around his throat as Gehenna shook her hand with all her might before slamming it downward. Thanatos’s body flailed through the air like a fish caught on a hook, then plummeted headfirst to the ground.
With a thunderous crash, his body convulsed violently. Gehenna slid her foot gently under his jaw, and with a slight tilt of her instep, a face twisted in anger and disbelief emerged from the swirling dust. It seemed he’d just regained consciousness after that hit.
But Gehenna paid no mind, looking down at Thanatos with her trademark half-lidded eyes.
“Well, this is something. I was already worried after hearing Behemoth’s report… but I never dreamed I’d run into you like this.”
“…Geheeeennaaaa!”
Thanatos howled in anguish at her calm words.
“Not exactly thrilled to see me, huh? Well, I feel the same way. But how did you manage to break free from your seal?”
Gehenna sneered and casually pulled her foot away. Thanatos screamed something unintelligible, slamming both hands hard into the ground. Then—
KRAK!
Just as he tried to rise, his head was slammed forcibly back into the earth. The impact cracked the ground beneath him, and his limbs sprawled out like a frog’s. On the crown of his head, a high-heeled shoe was neatly embedded, like a stiletto pressing down.
“No, Gehenna.”
Before anyone noticed her arrival, the blue-haired maid spoke softly, reproving Gehenna.
“You have to treat a bastard like a bastard. That’s the only way he’ll know his place.”
She gently lifted the edges of her skirt with both hands, revealing her calves and the sensual lines they traced.
“If you don’t, he might start acting up again like before.”
A faint smile curved her lips, her eyes slowly narrowing into crescent shapes. The icy blue of her irises was so sharp it sent chills down anyone’s spine. Then, as Thanatos struggled to get up, she pressed and rubbed her foot firmly against the back of his head.
“Isn’t that right? Mr. Bastard?”