The chieftain of the Fox Tribe, Laami, called upon her longtime friend.

“Gargar.”

“Oh, yes.”

The chieftain of the Wolf Tribe nodded.

“It’s about time for us to step back.”

“If we take on our beast forms, he won’t harm us.”

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to stay away from the battlefield if we can?”

“You’re right. The children are already in the forest.”

“His blessing should grant us the strength to withstand the miasma of the Black Forest...”

“...Still, it doesn’t exactly feel pleasant.”

Laami’s figure soon transformed into that of a fox.

The red-furred fox gave a light shake of her body and looked up at Gargar.

He, too, returned to his wolf form and gazed down at his old friend.

He lay his massive body along the corridor of the castle.

“Everything is... just as he said.”

“Exactly. And that’s what’s so bitter about it.”

“Once this commotion ends, will peace come here too?”

“Would a god go back on a promise once made?”

“Then we’ll be free.”

“Or we might be discarded.”

“Perhaps. You might be right.”

The Evil God had made them a promise.

That he would mend the ruined land born of human greed.

That place would become the final battlefield of the Evil God, and they were to borrow it for a time, and once he met his end, they were to make it their home.

Even so, the beasts cultivating his battlefield had not been part of the agreement.

“It’s a foolish way to treat a god, sure, but still, we’ve only just begun to truly believe and follow him...”

“The one who will consume this battlefield won’t be the one we know. Let it go, Laami.”

“Humans couldn’t possibly kill a god, could they? Even the previous creator only managed to abandon this place and leave, that was the best he could do.”

“That depends on what the god chooses to do, doesn’t it?”

The one who had been both their friend and their master once said that a god was a will-bound fate.

So if that will turned toward its own end, even a god could not escape death.

“It’s not as if I welcome that thought...”

Gargar swept his gaze across the empty interior of the castle.

“...Yes, you’re right. It is bitter.”

“Right?”

“It used to be such a noisy place.”

A theme park, was it?

This massive castle, the dazzling rides, and the luxurious village surrounding it had all become a special zone for them.

It had always been loud, full of joy and happiness.

Now, there was no one left.

To prevent being swept into the war, he had told them to hide themselves when the time came.

Each chieftain had hidden all of their kin within the forest, in accordance with his will.

"......"

"......"

Perhaps that was why it was so quiet.

“...Was the end of humanity, the one they saw in their visions, like this too?”

“If anything, it was probably worse, not better.”

“However it may be, the end of an era is this silent.”

“If he hadn’t taken us in, we would’ve walked the same path.”

“Honestly, I think this life wasn’t so bad.”

A dreamlike bliss.

“It never felt real, but still.”

The days of long suffering were still vivid.

They couldn’t even feed their newborns milk—poison had seeped into it.

They had buried countless offspring in the tainted earth.

This era had been a kind of recompense for that pain.

At that moment, a crow flew in through the window.

“You two.”

“Ah...”

“Valf.”

“Why are you still here, not moving?”

At the crow chieftain Valf’s question, the fox gave a sheepish smile.

“It just feels like a shame to retreat like this.”

“Hmm... I imagine your thoughts will change once you witness the war firsthand.”

“Our children are already hidden in the forest. Surely he wouldn’t harm his beastly friends, so I’m not worried.”

“Don’t judge the wrath of a god by the instincts of a beast.

The god who has taken back [N O V E L I G H T] all rage knows no distinction between friend and foe.

You mustn’t be too at ease.”

“Unless we bare our wrath before him, his gaze won’t land on us, will it?

Well, of course, even a single blind movement of his hands or feet could crush us, but...”

“Which is why you need to stay by your children’s side all the more.”

“...Even so...”

Laami’s ears drooped low.

Her gently wagging tail came to a halt.

“...Is this really the end?”

“...You’ve grown attached.”

“I know this is foolish.”

“He stayed in human form for a long time.

I understand your feelings.

He humbled himself so much that it was inevitable.”

“If these feelings of mine are part of his will, must I really retreat and hide in the forest?

Can’t a lowly fox be of help to him?”

“If all this is his will, then perhaps that isn’t entirely impossible.”

The crow spread his great wings and nodded toward the window.

“Look there.”

“...Hm?”

Gargar, who had been silent all along, looked below the window.

“A human...?”

“Oh, it really is a human?”

“One of them seems to be the Saintess of another dimension, the one Valf was overseeing.”

“She mentioned she serves a god called the Moon.”

“Ah...”

Gargar turned to Valf.

“Are they also part of his arrangement?”

“More like toys than plans, I’d say. But that too must be within his will.”

“Then is speaking with them also part of that will?”

“That, I don’t know.”

Flap—

The crow took to the air.

“But it’s worth speaking to them, whatever path that may lead to.”

“You’re right, Valf.”

The fox scratched at the wolf’s massive leg.

Her eyes sparkled.

“Gargar, Gargar.”

“You’re perfectly capable of doing this yourself...”

“I’m small and fragile, I get hurt easily!”

“Damn it... such a bother.”

Gargar grabbed the fox by the scruff of her neck.

“Kehing, you were going to help anyway!”

“Skrrkk... mgrrr...”

With the fox in his mouth, the wolf stepped onto the windowsill and leapt.

The fox dangled in the air, flailing and yelping.

“Kyaaaung!!”

Thud—!!!

As the wolf landed, the fox let out a cry.

“Could you treat me a little more gently?!”

“Ptuh!!”

“Eek!!”

“I was gentle enough! What more do you want?!”

“Ugh, wolves are so barbaric, I just can’t with you...!!”

Bark, bark-bark!!

Yelp, yip-yap!!

The crow landed as the two continued their squabble.

“...Just ignore them.”

“...Ah, yes.”

The human male watching the beasts with a strange look—Ather—nodded.

“...My name is Ather.

Before humanity fell, I was honored with the title of hero.

At one time, I even took part in sealing the Demon King.

Through the mysteries of the ruins and the mercy of the Evil God, I survived.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir.

I’m Aram, a lowly daughter who serves my teacher, the Moon.

I joined hands with Mr. Ather here in hopes of finding a way to fend off the Evil God’s invasion.”

As if they had been waiting, both introduced themselves in turn.

The crow flapped his wings.

“I am Valf, chieftain of the crows.

It’s surprising that any descendant of humanity survived what we thought was extinction.

And it’s also surprising that a guest who once visited this theme park has yet to return home.”

The crow tilted his head.

“What proposal do you bring us?”

“Before that, a question.”

The guest of the theme park, Aram, asked,

“Are you subordinates of the Evil God, his friends, or his family?”

“All three.”

“Which role do you value most?”

“I would say family.”

As the crow turned, the fox—who had stopped arguing at some point—blinked.

“Me?”

“Who else would I mean?”

“...I think I’m a subordinate. A loyal servant to him.”

“You could’ve just said what you usually say.”

“I’m also the beast he favors most!”

The fox boasted openly of her luxurious fur and thick tail.

The wolf, watching her strike a pose like a statue, replied in exasperation.

“Friend.”

“So curt.”

“...I think we’re friends.”

“Hmph, you never change.”

“Don’t start this again, Laami...”

“I was being honest.”

Then Aram asked again,

“Do you love your master?”

“What a cringeworthy question.”

“We, too, saw and felt what Argio was like in human form.

We received his mercy, and we didn’t believe such a being could be called evil.”

“...We feel the same, guest of my master.”

“I have so much I want to say, and I want to treat you with more care...

But unfortunately, time isn’t on our side.

So let me be direct.”

The one called the Saintess, the god’s family, asked,

“If you had a way to ruin this war... what would you do?”

“...That’s...”

The wolf grinned.

“Sounds interesting.”

And so, the beasts joined the cause of the Saintess and the Hero.

***

The first to enter the theme park wasn’t the Moon Sect—it was Justitia.

“Told you it wouldn’t be that hard.”

“Looking at the Moon Sect’s situation, it feels like we had an easier time getting in.”

“Anyway, the important part is that entry was possible.”

Seo Seo-Hee, the Guild Master leading Justitia’s raid team, looked around.

“...Quieter than I expected.”

He asked a guild member who had visited before,

“Was it always this much like a closed-down amusement park?”

“Mm, no, not at all. I think I submitted a report on this...”

“I was just asking in case I remembered wrong.”

“I was just saying it offhand too.

But no, it wasn’t like this before.

It was way noisier and packed with people.

There were even crow guides assigned to each visitor.”

“Doesn’t seem like we’ll find any of those guides now.”

“I think so too.”

The guild member assessed the situation with a calm expression.

“Seems like we weren’t the only ones preparing.”

No kind guides, no sweet food aromas, no twinkling lights.

The entire park was silent, dustless, and eerily pristine.

“Like you said, Guild Master—it really is like a closed amusement park.”

“I’ve never even been to one, but I feel weirdly sentimental.”

Seo Seo-Hee chuckled.

“Well then...”

He looked down into the basement.

“Let’s go meet the master of the house.”

“There’s a tremor, Guild Master.”

“Something’s coming up from below.”

“Yeah, he’s on his way.”

Grk—

Crrrk, tk. Tk!

Krrrrraaaagh...!!!

“Oh.”

The first thing they saw was a long, massive arm.

Then the red, sinuous tail of a beast.

Then limbs to match.

Then monstrous wings spreading over its enormous body...

“It looks like it's in pain.”

Sewn into its flesh were human figures.

『―Ah, aaah... aaaargh...! Aaaaaaaargh!!』

A scream rang out.

『Give me eternal rage! Give me your eternal disgrace!!』

『Hey there, friend. Did you come looking for me? Did you come? Did you come to see me?』

『Let’s dance and sing and bleed together.』

The voice wasn’t loud.

But it was perfectly clear to the members of Justitia.

Not because of their heightened senses—

—but because the "human" voice echoed directly inside their minds.

One of the guild members scratched his ear hard.

“Haven’t felt this in a while.”

“It’s been a long time since we clashed with divinity.”

“An Evil God... is still an Evil God, huh.”

Just hearing that voice was enough to drive them mad with itching and pain.

Like an actor’s song echoing through a theater, it resonated in their brains.

That presence alone decayed life and inflicted suffering.

Covered in golden treasures and crimson feathers, that radiant being...

Seo Seo-Hee muttered,

“...A dragon.”

An Evil God who had once been a dragon.

"......"

Seo Seo-Hee recognized its true nature.

How dreadful.

How bitter.