‘I figured this would happen.’

It wasn’t something she had agreed on with Ather beforehand.

But when she had no choice but to abandon him in the castle and escape, they had both known what the future held. That Ather would fall into the Evil God’s hands. That’s why Aram had carried the Moon in her arms.

Now it was her turn to bring Ather back.

“...Hoo.”

Aram lifted the Moon into the air.

It soared high—so high it soon filled the sky. The entire world was dyed in crimson-black void. The Moon stabilized the center, and stars began to sparkle. That pale, silver gleam—cold and luminous—was the color of their Moon Sect.

It was the power of the saint, Aram.

“...You’ve waited long enough.”

As the shifting heavens cast a vast cosmos overhead, she curled her lips upward. Her white hair sparkled like a meteor shower forged of silver and gems, merging with the stars.

Her red eyes—within those pupils, a white moon bloomed.

“From now on, this is my stage.”

She intended to take the stage away from the Evil God.

***

The first thing Aram did after taking the Moon from the bishop was awaken the “stars.” The ones who had been entranced by the Evil God quickly returned to their senses under the bishop’s guidance. To those who were now filled with guilt, Aram made a request.

This time, don’t sacrifice yourselves because of someone else’s choice. Become my stars. Be stars who awaken of your own will. And let yourselves be held in my universe.

Her fellow disciples accepted her plea.

“There’s no one in this world smarter than the Moon Sect’s priests.”

She had confidence in them. She could see it in their eyes. In the eyes of her fellow disciples—children of the Moon—she could see every curse and mystery laid bare.

The material of Ather’s weapon, its direction, its effect. The fate that wrapped around him. His will. His physical movements. The range of influence stemming from it. And beyond all that, even more.

The starlit cloud whispered: ‘And I am listening too.’

Aram called out to the deputy guildmaster of Justitia, the one she had summoned.

“Deputy Guildmaster?”

“I’m Kang Eun-Seong. Please, just speak comfortably.”

“I intend to wrest control of Mr. Ather away from the Evil God.”

“......”

Kang Eun-Seong paused. Then responded, a beat later.

“Please don’t overextend yourself.”

It felt wrong to accept the help of a young Saintess. But it was something to be grateful for. If they were lacking, then it was right they receive help. Even if he felt guilty, he would accept it gladly.

“I hope you won’t get hurt, if possible. Do you think that’s possible?”

“In a situation like this, avoiding injury completely is difficult. But that, too, is mine.”

Floating like a ghost in midair—within the universe—Aram placed a hand on Kang Eun-Seong’s shoulder.

“Still, I’ll try not to get hurt. Since you’re concerned.”

The curses surrounding Kang Eun-Seong dissolved for a moment. The ones that made him cry blood, choke, hear hallucinations and see visions—gone. That alone was proof of the Saintess’s power. Her strength and identity were undeniable.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll take full responsibility for the Guildmaster. May I?”

“Then I’ll block the curses emanating from Mr. Ather.”

Aram waved her hand like a conductor. Her hair lit up brightly, and the stars answered—sparkling in a flurry. Like chimes. Like drizzle falling. The light scattered.

It resembled a musical score. The stars moved into position. An immeasurable number of stars pooled their wisdom.

That one’s a curse. This one’s a mystery. Then they offered countermeasures.

“Good.”

And then, they sealed it.

“...Impressive.”

“Now focus on supporting Guildmaster Seo Seo-Hee.”

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all year.”

“There’s no need to protect me either. My brothers are watching over me.”

“If that’s the case...”

Aram was physically very weak. In that sense, she was similar to Bisa Beul the Collector. But Kang Eun-Seong believed her. The vast cosmos spread out before him made him believe.

And as Kang Eun-Seong fully concentrated on his commander, Seo Seo-Hee let out a booming laugh.

“—Ahahahahahaha...!!!”

His body felt light.

“It’s been such a long time—this kind of battle! This kind of coordination! To be on this dangerous battlefield with someone whose rhythm fits mine—It’s an extraordinary stroke of luck! A miracle!!”

“......”

“Don’t you agree?”

Crack— Fwoosh!

Seo Seo-Hee’s sword shattered.

“Mr. Ather!”

—And countless daggers appeared in his hands.

“I’ll take it all. Until your rage is spent—I’m good at this kind of thing!!”

Unlike earlier, when he was heavy and upright, Seo Seo-Hee now danced with agile, sweeping motions. Like a circus performer, the daggers flew from his hands.

They scratched Ather’s greatsword, used the falling shards to obscure vision, and inflicted countless wounds.

Watching it, Aram thought:

‘As expected of Korea’s number one hunter.’

His signature skill—Friend. He’s influenced by anyone who recognizes him as a friend.

‘In other words, he can copy them.’

Seo Seo-Hee could keep fighting as long as his stamina and regeneration were infinite. A day, a week, even a year—there were records of him fighting for four years straight in a dungeon where time flowed differently.

‘That’s why the role of his supporter is even more critical.’

No matter how vast Seo Seo-Hee’s talent, no matter how wide his strategic range—and even if he had the mental endurance to sustain it—he was still human. He needed healing. And healers or supporters made that possible even in the midst of battle.

That’s why the Guildmaster and Deputy Guildmaster of Justitia were like one body. She’d heard they were always together in battles of this scale.  Kang Eun-Seong was the second-best person in the world at supporting Seo Seo-Hee.

‘And the one said to be the best... is Jeong Hae-Woon, the guildmaster of Korea’s second-ranked guild.’

He was one of the Symbols of Eternity, like Seo Seo-hee.

Recalling that much, Aram turned her focus back to the present situation.

She saw Ather’s eyes—now transformed into gold.

“......”

Golden tears of blood were streaming down.

—...The same symptoms as Mother.

And they faintly resembled the eyes of the evil god.

—Is that what happens when one falls under the evil god’s sway?

Aram dug into that curse, into that mystery. Do not hold prejudice. ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) There is no right or wrong in knowledge. Focus only on the fact itself.

She closed her eyes and fell into the darkness.

What she had to do now was to wrest control of Ather back from the evil god. She had already done something similar as the Moon’s vessel. She could do it. She had done it. She only needed to recall that familiar sensation.

—Ather, you were already mad from the beginning.

The only reason he had managed to act normally was because he endured it. It had never been because Ather had truly found peace.

He was a rotting lump of flesh that had plummeted into a state less than human, locked in a thorny prison for thousands of years.

Ather himself described it that way.

And perhaps he was right.

The evil god had remade him into a human, but he couldn’t erase the hatred and fury rooted in pain.

Ather had howled like a beast at the remnants of his comrades. He had laughed. He had collapsed.

—What the evil god, what Argio did... was probably just nudging it along.

How easy it must have been to seize someone who was already insane.

—But I know Ather.

I know that will to live. That vitality that survived no matter what. The conviction he never let go of, even as he was reduced to a slab of meat.

Ather was not someone who would submit so easily to the evil god.

Aram knew that.

Though the two had never spoken of it, as if by mutual agreement, Aram believed in Ather.

No—she was certain.

This belonged not to emotion, but to intellect.

She grasped it through reason, not feeling.

“......”

Aram reached out her hand.

The stars wept. They resonated.

Like the sound of a harp, it rang out through the entire universe.

One over there, and another beside that one, and another farther away—

They drew a diagram among themselves and filled the cosmos.

—Untangle every thread of the mystery that binds him.

And replace it with mine—no, with the Moon’s.

—Dispel the curse that wraps around him.

So that the threat Ather never wanted could be lifted.

—Ather is looking for me too. I must ask him a question, and he must answer me. All I need is to reach him. Just reach him briefly—just enough to speak. That alone...

And Aram, at last, reached Ather.

“...Got it.”

She touched his inner world.

***

Wuuuuung—...

“......”

“......”

The roaring ceased, and the world fell still.

“...Kang Eun-Seong.”

“Yes, the Saintess is safe.”

“I meant to ask about my friend first.”

“You know I’m always fine.”

“There’s no such thing as someone who’s always fine, is there?”

Seo Seo-Hee dropped the broken spear onto the ground. With a light crack, the already-fractured weapon crumbled at that small impact. While in battle, it had been held together by magic, but once released, it fell apart.

It was the 48th replacement weapon. Seo Seo-Hee mourned it briefly before stretching her shoulders.

“Aigo... my aching body...”

“I’ll treat your wounds, please stay still.”

“No, I can take care of something like this myself.”

“But there’s no need for the guildmaster to trouble herself over—”

“It’s fine. Things are different now, aren’t they? We’ve got a moment of breathing room.”

Seo Seo-Hee looked at ‘Ather’—still frozen in place, greatsword in hand.

“Looks like the Saintess did well.”

Aram, too, had her eyes closed. Her long hair swayed like a living river, and the stars embedded within it twinkled in beautiful colors as it moved.

Looking around, Seo Seo-Hee smiled.

“What a sight...”

“Do you think the Collector would like it?”

“That person, unlike me, is the type who covets these mystical scenes.”

“I still don’t know how he finds aesthetic beauty in something like this...”

“Why? Isn’t it beautiful?”

“To me, it’s more... unnerving.”

The void of space.

“...It reminds you how insignificant humans really are.”

Only the stars’ whispers faintly filled the cosmos.

They were still in the universe. Proof that the Saintess had yet to fully wrest control from the evil god. Still, it was safe—for now. This place was under the domain of the Moon Sect’s saint.

—But that aside, it’s not a pleasant place.

The universe was vast. Fragments of what looked like man-made castles drifted through the emptiness. It was a space where no temperature could be sensed, yet somehow, it felt cold. Chilly. Lonely.

Kang Eun-Seong, listening to the murmuring stars, touched his earlobe and looked toward his superior.

“Have you recovered?”

“I’m good at this much, Kang Eun-Seong.”

“Your combat style always sends my guts dropping.”

“You can stick ’em back in, can’t you? Don’t whine.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“It means I trust my friends that much.”

Seo Seo-Hee grinned.

“Would you be vice-guildmaster for no reason?”

“...Ahem.”

The vice-guildmaster cleared his throat and turned to look at the Saintess and Ather.

“Hopefully this improves the situation...”

“No, I think...”

Then, the universe shook.

“......!!”

“Prepare for battle.”

“But the Saintess hasn’t yet—!!”

“Look carefully.”

And then—

“This is how you fight an evil god.”

Shlick—

Ather’s head fell.

“......”

A sudden and surreal sight.

Kang Eun-Seong looked at the blood scattered through the cosmos, at the ghost’s closed eyes, at the Saintess slowly opening hers.

The entire scene was bizarre and beautiful, like a piece of art no mere human could understand.

And then, Kang Eun-Seong understood everything.

“...Did the Saintess fail?”

“Well, I suppose... we’ll have to see.”

Crack, cr-cr-crack—!!

The universe began to fracture as if it were made of crystal.

“We haven’t defeated the Demon King yet.”

“...No way, ha...”

“Incredible.”

The Saintess’s universe didn’t fully shatter but held its form. The stars screamed in pain—agonized shrieks. Through the cracks, layers of dimensions bled into view.

The Black Forest. Ruin explorers. Hunters who had struggled to endure inside the dungeon—

They now exchanged startled glances through those gaps in dimension.

And then, the evil god descended into the universe.

『My friend.』

Shrunken to the size of a human, he reached out his empty second hand and grabbed the head of the hero drifting through the universe.

Then, he held it close, gently.

With the third hand—his left—he lifted the ghost’s arm like a puppet. His red hair, thick as wool, billowed across the cosmos like a pelt.

Bare feet, adorned with all manner of jewelry, stepped upon the void. Around one leg coiled a voluminous tail like an aurora. The silk draping his form fluttered like that of a heavenly maiden.

Golden fluid from the shattered head overflowed, coating the divine body, gold upon gold, staining the head cradled in his arms.

And with it, he dyed the universe gold.

『Friend, friend, my friends...』

The radiance of red feathers bent grotesquely as it looked down upon the world.

『Prove you are human.』

Within the golden eye of the third hand, a human was reflected.

『I stand before you.』

『Why do you not join me?』

And then, across the universe, decaying dragons appeared.

All of them bore red fur. Their snake-like bodies writhed and screamed, tangled in the universe’s debris, thrashing, or clumped like corpses forming mountains and nests.

Like stagnant, congealed blood.

The evil god’s second hand gently stroked the ghost’s head and gave his command:

『Open your eyes.』

The ghost’s shut eyes opened.

And the dragons, filled with rage, roared.

“—Ah, I’m angry.”

“I’m so very angry.”

“Aren’t you too?”

“Rage grants worth to the prepared.”

“Will it be your weapon, or your mire?”

“You must choose.”

“Tell me—”

“Are you human, or beast?”

And among the dragons, the evil god smiled.

『Shall I help you?』

The calamity spread like a plague.