I looked at Kim Dokja reflected in the window of the shattered building.

He stood there with Cheon Inho’s face, and yet he was unmistakably Kim Dokja.

The first Kim Dokja of this world.

The one who existed before any other Kim Dokja.

Because he found the courage to live, because he decided what to protect and what he could not protect, the other Kim Dokjas could exist.

He is the one who chooses and decides before all Kim Dokjas.

The one who bears the heaviest responsibility.

「Kim Dokja’s salvation is cruel.」

The Demon King of Salvation.

「Like saving a drowning person with a blade’s tip, those saved by him suffer wounds that can never be taken back.」

For the crime of saving someone, he was resented. By the very people he saved, he was reproached for having hurt them.

「“Don’t be ridiculous… what kind of salvation is this….”」

But even those saved like that knew.

「“Why on earth would you—”」

As they were lifted by the tip of Kim Dokja’s blade, they saw Kim Dokja’s hands.

「“Mister Dokja, you have so many scars on your hands.”」

When Kim Dokja saved someone with the blade’s tip, he too was gripping the blade.

「“Don’t worry. Things like this disappear once you die and come back.”」

The wounds on his hands soon vanished, but people remembered those wounds.

They checked his hands again and again, worried he might have gained new scars, and felt relief when they saw them clean.

Accepting the fact that someday Kim Dokja would save them again with those hands, accepting that it could not be otherwise.

‘Backer Constellation.’

The Demon King of Salvation was looking down at his hands.

Since those hands were mine, there wasn’t a single scar left.

What memories had he regained?

Even with [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] active, I could not see well the memories he had recovered.

‘Backer Constellation?’

At my question, Kim Dokja lifted his head and blankly looked up at the sky.

Then, for a few moments, he smiled an inscrutable smile. It looked a bit hollow, a bit bitter, or perhaps like someone who had come to understand everything.

“One more.”

With that expression, Kim Dokja seized the black beast’s head. Then, with his other hand, he began to pull out his fragment embedded in the beast’s back.

“One, more.”

Each time a fragment lodged in the back was pulled, Yu Joonghyuk’s whole body shuddered in spasms.

Awoooooo!

At the beast’s anguished cry bursting from its mouth, those who had been standing dazed let out groans.

“Ah, aaah….”

“What on earth is—”

People were no longer looking at the ‘black beast’ but at the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’

In my eyes sharing his view, the expressions of the people were reflected.

They stepped back from me, feared me, fled from me.

Kugugugugu!

I called out to Kim Dokja once more.

‘Backer Constellation!’

Kim Dokja said nothing. He only silently recovered the fragments from Yu Joonghyuk’s back.

Three, four, five….

Now more than half the fragments had been recovered.

On his knees, Yu Joonghyuk, with half-vacant pupils, looked up at me like that. His fur-standing body gave one fierce rebellion.

A sudden ominous premonition flashed.

「A single Kim Dokja.」

Perhaps every Kim Dokja comes to dream of ‘a single Kim Dokja.’

If so, then that ‘Demon King of Salvation’ as well.

The one who existed first—might he not also want to become the one and only ‘Kim Dokja’?

“Don’t move.”

Gripping the black beast’s head with his left hand, Kim Dokja forced the creature to its knees as if subduing it. Then with his right hand he kept pulling out fragments.

With every fragment pulled, more and more memories were returning.

His memories were, in turn, his tale.

As the tale returned, the strength of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ grew.

Crackle!

It was truly becoming dangerous now.

Whether cowed by Kim Dokja’s tier or not, the demon species that had possessed Yu Joonghyuk had gone completely quiet.

But Kim Dokja didn’t leave /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the thing alone.

“Come out. If you don’t want to die.”

At that one sentence, the soul of the demon species that had harried us until now sprang out of Yu Joonghyuk.

Awoooooo!

The demon species, having lost any place to go and writhing in agony, spilled its tale like a chant.

「I meant no harm. I meant no harm.」

It was so pitiful one could hardly believe it had been a marquis-class demon just moments ago.

「Save mepleasehelpmesaveme」

As if recognizing who Kim Dokja was, the demon species trembled and went on speaking.

「I was only I was only I was only….」

Toward that demon species, Kim Dokja spoke in a flat voice.

“You wanted to become the ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ didn’t you.”

The soul quivered and could say nothing.

“Do you still want to become the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?”

The soul quivered once more.

“Then come here.”

As Kim Dokja quietly opened his mouth, the soul of the demon species was drawn into my mouth. It hadn’t entered into me. I could tell by sensation alone.

「The soul of the demon species is absorbed into the tale of the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’」

When the demon species vanished, the unconscious Yu Joonghyuk pitched forward.

‘Kim Dokja.’

I called Kim Dokja for the last time. If he didn’t answer this time either, I was going to forcibly cancel [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint]. But—

—I’m listening.

Kim Dokja answered.

—I just remembered the old days for a moment.

Hearing him say that, and that he was still the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ I remembered, I felt a bit of relief.

‘Did you regain your memory?’

I couldn’t forget how ruthlessly he had been ripping out those fragments.

What memory had he seen to make Kim Dokja lose his reason like that?

[The tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ wears a dissatisfied expression.]

What’s more, those fragments weren’t absorbed into my tale.

In other words, all eight ‘Kim Dokja Fragments’ just extracted were absorbed by the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’

—That’s….

At the moment Kim Dokja, in a bitter voice, was about to say something—

Crackle!

Sparks began to rage in midair. With a sweeping dark cloud, bolts of lightning slammed down to the ground.

Was the ‘backlash of plausibility’ rolling in?

It couldn’t be. This scenario should be a safe zone from backlash.

Had the ‘Demon King of Salvation’s’ tier vastly exceeded the scenario’s standard?

My body had been trembling precariously for a while now. Even with [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] active, I couldn’t withstand the ‘Demon King of Salvation’s’ tier.

But that… no, wait.

Rumble!

Between the thunderbolts crashing down again, I could see several incarnations approaching this way.

Incarnations who had been spectators until now.

The moment Kim Dokja checked the ‘Grade-4 earth-dragon species’ equipment they were wearing, he frowned.

Zarathustra?

“James. What are you trying to do right now.”

Anna Croft stepped in to block them. From the look of bewilderment on her face, it seemed this sudden action by Zarathustra was not in line with her intent.

“To carry out the ‘prophecy.’ Why?”

“Prophecy? I never told you people any prophecy.”

“I know. I’m sick of your ‘prophecy’ anyway.”

The man called James grumbled and looked back at the other incarnations.

“We’ve been used because we’re weak. Trampled to death by beast species. I’m saying we’re sick of all of it.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“We made a contract.”

A woman who had been behind James stepped forward and spoke.

“Just like you, Anna Croft.”

Anna, wearing a dazed expression, suddenly jerked up her head and murmured.

“No way… what did you—”

[Constellation, ‘Bald Militia Commander,’ is appalled by the incarnations’ choice!]
[Constellation, ‘War God of the Sea,’ glares wide-eyed!]
[Constellation, ‘Heungmu the Great,’ shouts if you’re in your right minds!]

But even the constellations venting their displeasure could not dare to make any gesture beyond indirect messages.

The nebula standing behind those incarnations was a group before which great-figure constellations had no choice but to hold back.

[Nebula, <Asgard>, watches the scenario in question.]

The lofty night sky of <Star Stream>. Among them, one of the nebulae occupying the very highest seats.

With just a single indirect message ringing out, my heart thudded roughly.

Several incarnations who had trouble breathing fell to their knees on the ground, dry heaving.

Having lost her composure, Anna Croft shouted toward the Zarathustra members.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You people are now—”

“We’ve become <Asgard>’s representative incarnations.”

The woman smiled and continued.

“Up to now, the representative incarnation of ‘Asgard’ was you alone, but—”

James picked up her words.

“Not anymore.”

Light flared from the ten Zarathustra members all at once.

I realized what was happening.

They had chosen to become incarnations of ‘Asgard’ themselves.

[Incarnation, ‘James Johnson,’ receives the will of the nebula ‘Asgard.’]
[Incarnation, ‘Olivia Harris,’ receives the will of the nebula ‘Asgard.’]
[Incarnation, ‘Harper Davis,’ receives the will of the nebula ‘Asgard.’]
……

Blinding streams of light lit the ten incarnations.

“<Asgard>! Save us!”

“We kept our promise! Now liberate us from this horrible scenario!”

Anna cried out to them in haste.

“No! Stop!”

Zarathustra’s incarnations spread their arms toward the sky. Soon their bodies began to sublimate into light.

Realizing too late that something had gone wrong, the incarnations thrashed, flailing hands and feet, but the situation was already irreversible.

“W-why—”

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

The incarnations’ skin scattered into ash.

And then—

[Constellation, ‘One Who Washes Clean,’ manifests!]

Stars began to descend upon their skulls left as bare bone.

[Constellation, ‘One Who Married Three Times,’ manifests!]
[Constellation, ‘Daughter of the Valkyrie,’ manifests!]
……

Constellations who had entered the incarnation bodies opened blazing eyes one by one.

Demi-god Advent.

I repeat, this was only the seventh scenario. Great stars were attempting demi-god advent at barely the seventh scenario.

It was impossible.

Even if it was to balance the ‘scale of plausibility’ toppled by the ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ that was far too much.

“R-run!”

Confirming the manifestation of constellations, the incarnations began to run without looking back.

It was only natural.

A constellation’s demi-god advent was a shocking miracle that could twist the entirety of this scenario.

Therefore, I wasn’t worried.

[The ‘Administration Bureau’ intervenes urgently in the anomaly that occurred in this area.]

There was no way the Bureau wouldn’t step in for an incident of this magnitude.

[The sub-scenario is paused temporarily.]
[The plausibility of <Star Stream> moves.]
[The Administration Bureau contacts nebula <Asgard>.]

Now that the Bureau had stepped in, there was no way the situation wouldn’t be resolved.

Then why?

The constellations’ demi-god advent was not being undone.

[Nebula, <Asgard>, declares ‘Ginnungagap’ over the entirety of this scenario region.]

What followed was a shocking system message.

[The grand tale, ‘Ginnungagap,’ begins its story.]
[‘Staging’ occurs.]

The sky of the whole area swirled violently and every light in the sky went out.

Ginnungagap.

I knew that name as well.

The primordial empty space that signaled the beginning of <Asgard>’s myth.

The first void where no scenario and no story existed.

If a nebula permitted this 「staging,」 the meaning was obvious.

—They intend to make the things happening here and now into ‘things that never happened.’

But why suddenly perform a miracle on such a grand scale?

No matter how much it was nebula <Asgard>, if they did this, their nebula’s grand tale would take a tremendous hit.

Even so, the fact that they were doing this meant there was something they absolutely had to gain, even at the cost of the loss.

Ten constellations, led by ‘Daughter of the Valkyrie,’ were looking this way.

[We finally meet, ‘Demon King of Salvation.’]

The moment I heard those words, a thought flashed to mind.

「<Asgard> knows about the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’」

If all of this scenario had been planned from the very beginning—

「Why did the demon that appeared in Washington impersonate the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?」

Suddenly, everything felt clear.

「If this scenario was a scenario created to lure the true ‘Demon King of Salvation’—」

If the Dark Watcher had impersonated the ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ if Yu Joonghyuk had become a black beast, and if the entire story up until the true ‘Demon King of Salvation’ arrived had all followed someone’s plan—

If so, their objective was all too clear.

「The constellations of this world are already gathering ‘Kim Dokja Fragments.’」