Bullets flying in from somewhere rained down overhead. Startled, the great-figure constellations hurriedly evacuated their incarnation bodies.

“Who the hell—!”

At the same time, shells poured in at more than twice the previous volume. They weren’t ordinary bullets.

Each and every one was a magic round packed with condensed magic power.

As several incarnation bodies caught in the surprise attack fell, the enraged constellations glared toward the direction the barrage had begun.

“Filthy insect incarnations—”

Incarnations dressed like refugees kept firing.

“Keep shooting.”

At the center of the refugees stood a man.

Jacob Martinez.

Las Vegas’s “Northern King.”

The great-figure constellations, who had rushed over at astonishing speed, tore through the refugee line in an instant and charged at Martinez.

The moment Martinez’s eyes went wide, great-figure constellations stationed at each bearing cut off his arms and torso.

“Hahahat! Idiot!”

His severed limbs flew through the air with spurts of blood.

[Character ‘Jacob Martinez’ activates ‘Severing Magic Lv.7’!]

In an instant, Martinez reattached the severed sections and spoke toward the rear.

“We can’t drag this out for long. The opponent is <Olympus>.”

“I know.”

“Go. With this, the North has repaid its debt.”

The woman nodded and picked up the fallen Demon King of Salvation.

The incarnation body that had entered the process of dissolution trembled faintly.

“Don’t move.”

The Demon King of Salvation looked up at the woman. A fair face shining brightly even on the battlefield.

It wasn’t the face he remembered.

“I thought you were Yoo Sangah.”

Ji Eunyu let out a faint smile.

“I am her incarnation.”

Yoo Sangah’s incarnation. Maybe that was why her aura strangely resembled Yoo Sangah’s.

“It’s dangerous here. If you came to save the youngest, you came to the wrong place. The youngest is over there—”

“They’re still negotiating with the ‘Recycling Center’ over there.”

The negotiations still weren’t over?

If so, the situation wasn’t good.

<Olympus> had just burned a great tale to resurrect Ares. If they didn’t hurry and send the youngest up—

“Is that all you have to say?”

Holding the Demon King of Salvation, Ji Eunyu ran as she spoke.

There was something in her way of talking that resembled Yoo Sangah, not just her aura.

Ji Eunyu continued with a light sigh.

“I was actually asked to keep an eye on you in case you pulled something like this.”

“…”

“And to tell you they’re sorry they couldn’t even fill up Gingoa for you.”

Gingoa.

The Demon King of Salvation opened his mouth without thinking.

“I’m not the Kim Dokja Yoo Sangah is looking for.”

As he said that, the Demon King of Salvation thought of the third. The main memories related to “Gingoa” were the third’s.

“Just like you aren’t Yoo Sangah.”

As the scenery rushed past, the Demon King of Salvation felt his tale scattering.

[Tale, ‘Demon King of Salvation’ fumbles to continue its story.]

Ji Eunyu’s hands, holding him, were clutching at the tale that was coming apart around him.

“You are the Kim Dokja that person is looking for.”

Her hands were very warm.

“I’ve read the stories you appear in more than anyone. So I can vouch for it.”

Maybe it was because, as she said that, she really did feel like Yoo Sangah.

The Demon King of Salvation slowly opened his mouth.

“Is Yoo Sangah doing well?”

“How could she be doing well?”

“Tell her I’m sorry.”

“Tell her yourself.”

“You said you’re Yoo Sangah’s incarnation.”

“You said I’m not Yoo Sangah.”

“For now, let’s say you are Yoo Sangah. So—”

The Demon King of Salvation knew.

Yoo Sangah could not come here.

Whether it was because of the “Scales of Plausibility” or the constraints of the “Void Veil,” he didn’t know, but at the very least, until he died, she would not be able to come.

Most likely, his words would never be properly conveyed to Yoo Sangah.

“Thank you so much, Yoo Sangah.”

But at least the story would remain.

And one day, Yoo Sangah would read his story left on this wall.

That was enough for the Demon King of Salvation.

“Really, thank you.”

His scenario had now ended.

The protagonist and characters of this story had changed.

“I don’t really know. What you’re even thanking me for.”

Even so, the story went on.

“I’m going to go ask you myself, so you have to stay alive until then.”

Maybe it was because there were still parts of the story left unfinished.

The Demon King of Salvation slowly blinked and asked,

“Were those words just now Yoo Sangah’s?”

“They were just mine.”

“You’re just Yoo Sangah’s incarnation.”

“You said I’m Yoo Sangah for now.”

Ji Eunyu spoke as she kicked off the ground with all her might and ran.

“For what it’s worth, if it were Yoo Sangah, I’m sure she’d say that.”

The explosions echoing from behind were gradually dying down.

The Northern King’s forces had been annihilated.

“The youngest told me about you.”

Editor Ji Eunyu.

In the youngest’s memories, she was quite an important figure.

The first person to read and edit the stories the youngest wrote. If not for her, the youngest’s “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” might never have come into the world.

「Author-nim, look. This Kim Dokja line is a bit weird.」
「I think this line would fit better here.」
「No, look! That’s not the kind of thing this character would say earlier—」
「Isn’t that what makes a character three-dimensional?」
「This isn’t depth, it’s character derailment.」

A sudden thought came to him.

If he and Yoo Sangah had reincarnated in another world line, would they have ended up with that kind of relationship.

「Doesn’t Kim Dokja also sometimes want to be someone else?」

A world without scenarios or constellations. A world where all this tragedy was just imagined lines on a page.

The youngest had come from such a world.

“You stayed here to save the youngest, didn’t you?”

Ji Eunyu didn’t answer.

“You’re like the youngest’s Yoo Sangah, aren’t you.”

“I told you, I’m not Yoo Sangah. Stop talking. Your tale is scattering.”

“I’m going to die anyway. There’s less than a minute left now.”

Ji Eunyu’s strides stopped.

Great-figure constellations hiding up ahead revealed themselves one by one. They were great-figure constellations <Olympus> had dispatched as reinforcements, appearing with their incarnation bodies.

“Deactivate [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] and run! That’ll solve it.”

“No. I put a constraint on it.”

It wasn’t the usual [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint].

To wipe out the great-figure incarnation bodies and execute the tale-grade constellation Ares’s incarnation, the Demon King of Salvation had staked his own life as the price.

「This [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] cannot be deactivated by oneself.」

In other words, once this incarnation body dissolved, he too would dissolve.

“What were you thinking, doing that. You know they’re after you.”

“I know.”

“Then why—”

Why had he pulled such a reckless stunt.

The Demon King of Salvation wasn’t exactly sure either.

Maybe he believed his stage wasn’t over yet.

Maybe he’d wanted to reenact those days when, as {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the “Demon King of Salvation,” he’d hunted constellations.

Maybe, watching the story of the youngest fighting alone in desperation, his blood had boiled without his knowing, and he’d wanted to prove that he too was “Kim Dokja.”

The “Thoughts” he’d borrowed from the youngest thrummed, letting out a low wail.

“The Demon King of Salvation I know doesn’t die.”

“…”

“He’s someone who survives no matter what he has to do. You know that too, don’t you?”

Great-figure constellations were closing in from all directions.

There was nowhere left to run.

Unless a “Star Ladder” came down, there was no way for them to escape.

But what star would dare lower a “Star Ladder” in defiance of the great nebula.

“So please save him.”

As Ji Eunyu said that, her gaze briefly lingered on Cheon Inho in the distance.

“Please, save Kim Dokja.”

The Demon King of Salvation blankly listened to those words. Maybe he had come here just to hear them.

[Tale, ‘Demon King of Salvation’ wants to keep telling its story.]

Staggering, the Demon King of Salvation slipped from Ji Eunyu’s arms and said,

“Okay.”

Beyond the great-figure constellations’ incarnation bodies surrounding them, a man exuding a terrifying class was approaching.

“De-mon-King-of-Sal-va-tion.”

It was the resurrected Ares’s incarnation body.

Crackle-crackle-crackle!

Ares advanced, enduring the backlash that had exceeded the plausibility allowance.

Even if he detonated all his remaining tales, it would be impossible to strike that bastard down.

Thunder boomed again beyond the night sky. The Demon King of Salvation thought of Yu Joonghyuk.

Yu Joonghyuk or <Kim Dokja Company> probably wouldn’t be able to come. The great nebulae were surely offering up their great tales as sacrifice to block them.

Not just them—no one in this world could intervene in this scenario where the great nebulae were rampaging.

「Except for a single place.」

The Demon King of Salvation raised his head.

“Are you there.”

They were the group that governed this “world” itself.

Those who, amid the currents of <Star Stream>, controlled the scenarios and guided the world to the ■■ of everything.

“Bihyung.”

At the Demon King of Salvation’s call, sparks flew through the air. And then—

—Are you serious.

The dokkaebi belonging to the “Administration Bureau”—Bihyung—answered.

“Yes.”

The Demon King of Salvation knew. It wouldn’t just be Bihyung listening to him right now.

The grand dokkaebis of this world line—perhaps even the “Dokkaebi King” beyond them—would be hearing his story.

And they would already know what he was going to say.

—The price will be enormous.

I know. It might be more horrific than death.

“I don’t care.”

Even so, he had to meet the youngest again.

He had to meet him and convey what he still hadn’t managed to say.

What the “real Kim Dokja” truly was.

Where the Han Sooyoung he’d been searching for was.

How they might send the readers from other world lines back.

Who it was that had killed them.

And—

「Why this ‘world’ exists.」

Sensing something was off, the constellations blanched and rushed toward him.

“Stop him! Stop him—!”

Watching them, the Demon King of Salvation grinned.

「You will gain nothing.」

The Demon King of Salvation declared,

“I will offer myself to <Star Stream>.”

And the world responded to his words.

[<Star Stream> accepts your proposal.]
[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is offered up to ‘Star Stream’.]

“Stop, you bastard!”

For a constellation to seal himself into “Star Stream” meant nothing less than volunteering to become material for scenarios.

[The Mayor of the ‘Heavenly City’ wishes to incorporate ‘Demon King of Salvation’ into his scenario.]
[The Host of ‘Ragnarok’ wishes to incorporate ‘Demon King of Salvation’ into his scenario.]
[The Owner of the ‘Fallen Ruins’ wishes to incorporate ‘Demon King of Salvation’ into his scenario.]
[The Initiator of the ‘Holy Demon Great War’ wishes to incorporate ‘Demon King of Salvation’ into his scenario.]
……
[The Director of the ‘Recycling Center’ wishes to incorporate ‘Demon King of Salvation’ into his scenario.]

He didn’t know in which scenario and as what kind of material he would be used. Only that he had offered himself up, and he had the right to demand a price.

“I’ll take the authority to bestow the ‘Star Ladder’.”

[The ‘Administration Bureau’ approves your price.]

Ares, who had reached right up to the Demon King of Salvation’s nose, swung his spear.

By a hair’s breadth, blinding light flared and the Demon King of Salvation’s incarnation body vanished.

“No!”

At the same time, a radiant ladder began to descend from the air.

「Star Ladder.」

An ascension opportunity granted to a few incarnation bodies in exchange for the constellation “Demon King of Salvation.”

Anna Croft and Selena Kim helped the fallen Cheon Inho and Yu Joonghyuk onto the ladder, and Ji Eunyu likewise grabbed onto it together with Martinez.

Once all the scheduled incarnation bodies had boarded, the ladder began to rise into the sky.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

The furious Ares went berserk.

“I will not accept this!”

Ares’s incarnation body reached out toward the Star Ladder.

“Stop them! Stop that bastard’s incarnation body from using the Star Ladder! Knock the incarnation bodies off somehow!”

Great-figure constellations, including the Gatekeeper of Thebes, belatedly attacked the ladder. But a translucent veil sparked, blocking their interference.

“Who the hell dares—”

At that moment, Ares felt the scenario’s scales of balance tip even with him.

It was something that shouldn’t be possible.

For there to be a being who could balance out a tale-grade constellation like him—

[Stop, Ares.]

At the command carrying an immense class, every constellation, Ares included, froze in place along with their incarnation bodies.

In disbelief, Ares lifted his head and looked up at the sky.

At the end of the Star Ladder that led to the Recycling Center were beings with pure white wings unfurled.

Unlike <Olympus> and <Asgard>, who had joined the scenario, they were the only stars among the Big Three great nebulae who had kept silent.

“Eden!”

[Constellation, ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius’ reveals her class!]

The lined-up archangels were blocking the path to the Recycling Center.

[The scenario is over. Stop harming plausibility and return to your own contexts.]

“How dare, how dare you—”

Ares couldn’t understand it. Why was <Eden> meddling in this incident. And of all times, why at this timing.

Biting his lip, Ares glared with murderous intent at the being standing beyond the archangels.

“Director! I know you’re hiding there!”

There was no need to fight <Eden> specifically.

The “Star Ladder” wasn’t under <Eeden>’s jurisdiction anyway.

“Cancel the Star Ladder! The ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is ours!”

[No. He belongs to ‘Star Stream’ now.]

With a hollow laugh, the Director’s voice came from between the shadows of the archangels.

[<Olympus>. Have you forgotten the Nebulae Pact? You cannot interfere in the Recycling Center’s scenarios.]

“Asgard has declared a [Fate]. He received three [Fate] messages! He can’t escape them! He—”

[The Fate that descended on him was ‘to die within the story he loved’.]

Once all the incarnation bodies finished ascending, the Star Ladder began to scatter. The portal leading to the Recycling Center was slowly closing.

Wearing a strange smile, the Director looked out over the ruined Washington Dome and left his final words.

[And it seems that ‘story’ isn’t here.]

“Wait! Hold it! You bastards—”

[‘Star Ladder’ has disappeared.]
[All scenarios in the ‘Washington Dome’ region are terminated.]
[The scenario’s scales tilt.]
[The balance of plausibility collapses.]

The remaining Ares and great-figure constellations hastily looked around at one another.

Ominous sparks were raging across all of Washington.

“Everyone, fall ba—”

[The plausibility backlash begins to blow!]

The backlash that followed erased everything in Washington.