“I never lent you my mouth, archangel.”

At Yu Joonghyuk’s annoyed remark, the archangel’s wings drooped sulkily.

Soon, with a soft pop, a translucent form floated up from Yu Joonghyuk’s incarnation body like a butterfly just emerging from its chrysalis.

[Constellation, ‘Demonic Judge of Fire’, manifests in a region outside scenario jurisdiction!]

It was the partial descent of none other than a Fable-grade constellation.

Archangel Uriel.

The constellation who had given up all of ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) her tales in order to protect Kim Dokja.

Warm emerald-colored eyes turned toward me.

[Sorry. I made you wait a long time, didn’t I?]

Hearing that voice, it suddenly felt like I was going to burst into tears.

[It’s okay now. I’ll protect you.]

The incarnation body of her half-descent was trembling unsteadily.

She wasn’t a being of this world line, but the Uriel of the 1,864th round.

She had probably entered into some kind of covenant and made a contract with this world’s ‘Uriel’, and that was how she had descended here now.

“Uriel…”

The Kim Dokja she had wanted to protect probably wasn’t me. The Kim Dokja she remembered didn’t exist in this world. Perhaps he didn’t exist anywhere in the universe.

Even so, she had come here to protect Kim Dokja.

In the face of that solemn resolve, I felt the legacy of the old Kim Dokja.

But even though she had come, the situation was far from smooth.

[An archangel who shields a Demon King, how amusing.]

[Do you think you alone can stop us.]

The Twelve Chief Gods of <Olympus> stood before us.

[Constellation, ‘Pure Moonlight Hunter’, reveals her rank!]

[Constellation, ‘Almighty Sun’, reveals his rank!]

Pure Moonlight Hunter ‘Artemis’ and Almighty Sun ‘Apollo’.

No less than two of the Twelve Chief Gods had come here.

Just to catch me alone.

No, maybe it wasn’t only the two of them.

[Uriel. Move aside.]

A third Fable-grade constellation appeared, along with a blade-like surge of energy.

[Constellation, ‘Advocate of Justice and Wisdom’, reveals her rank!]

Advocate of Justice and Wisdom, Athena.

Apparently not expecting even her to come, Uriel frowned.

[I don’t want to. And don’t talk down to me. I’m not the ‘Uriel’ you know, okay?]

Only then did Athena’s expression change, as if she’d realized something.

[Don’t tell me, you are—]

[Yeah. Right. I’m too lazy to explain, so if you figured it out, hurry up and get lost.]

[Archangel of another world line. Why are you obstructing us.]

[Because you’re doing bad things.]

Bad things. As she said that, Uriel flicked a glance in my direction.

[Since when did the ‘Advocate of Justice and Wisdom’ become a villain who bullies the weak.]

[He is not weak. He is a Demon King, and this world’s—]

[Rewarding good and punishing evil. Do you really think that musty old logic of yours is still running properly? Do you honestly think that kid is ‘evil’?]

Athena couldn’t answer.

[On top of that, he’s not even a constellation or a Demon King anymore. Because of the damn Fate you unleashed, he’s turned into nothing but a lone incarnation who can’t put up any resistance. And you still want to kill him?]

Athena bit down hard on her lip and glared at Uriel.

[Are you truly intending to fight here.]

[And if I am.]

[Do you understand what will happen if <Eden> and <Olympus> go to all-out war?]

[Go eat sh■t. My <Eden> has already been destroyed anyway.]

Athena’s eyes said she had no idea what that meant, but she soon seemed to harden her resolve and drew out her holy relic, Aegis.

[Artemis. Apollo.]

At Athena’s signal, three of the Twelve Chief Gods encircled Uriel.

Uriel gave them a brief glance, then spoke to Yu Joonghyuk.

[You remember what I asked you, right?]

Yu Joonghyuk nodded.

[You have to protect him, no matter what happens.]

At the same instant, Uriel and the three Chief Gods’ divine forms vanished.

Right after, a radiance that covered the pitch-black universe exploded outward. As the crimson flames poured out by Almighty Sun Apollo lit up the cosmos, Artemis’s arrows flew in, leaving deep blue tails behind them.

By then, a holy relic was also in Uriel’s hand.

A sword that contained the highest flames of [Hellfire].

‘Flame of Karmic Fire’.

When the archangel’s sword split the universe, the sun’s corona and the hunter’s arrows were cleaved apart in one stroke.

The thing that blocked her sword, which tore through space itself, was Athena’s Aegis.

[Block it!]

Combat power that matched three of the Twelve Chief Gods of <Olympus> at once.

Far from merely holding them off, ‘Flame of Karmic Fire’ was steadily pushing the three Chief Gods back.

It was a truly astonishing power.

Even if Uriel was <Eden>’s chief archangel, she was in a state where she couldn’t use the full strength of the 1,864th round.

She wasn’t even in an incarnation body, but only a half-body.

And yet she was still that strong.

Apparently deciding this couldn’t go on, Artemis, her face gone pale, shouted.

[Athena, it’s dangerous—!]

Uriel soared.

As her snowy wings spread wide and sent deep shadows rippling through the universe, the single stroke of Uriel’s sword that had severed the necks of countless Demon Kings moved.

[Everyone fall back!]

At Athena’s signal, she raised Aegis. The immortal barrier of Aegis unfolded, scattering in all directions.

[What in—]

Even that ‘immortal barrier’ was slowly melting. The moment the flames of [Hellfire], having completely torn through the barrier’s outer shell, were about to pour down on the three Chief Gods’ heads—

“Evade!”

Yu Joonghyuk shouted.

A jet-black wave that rolled in without a sound.

Uriel was swept away by the wave in an instant. What followed was the howling of monstrous beasts. The sound of something being ripped apart.

When the wave dissipated, Uriel was glaring toward the direction it had surged from, a massive wound on her shoulder.

Then, as if answering her gaze, the wave spoke.

[Foolish archangel. Do you know what you are opposing?]

Just hearing the true speech made my heart feel like it was going to explode. Sparks burst all around with terrifying intensity. As if it cared nothing for Plausibility or anything of the sort, a divine body was descending into the void.

A being that made my breath catch just from glimpsing its true form.

Only after Yu Joonghyuk emitted his energy did I barely manage to exhale and stare forward.

There, a myth-grade constellation of <Olympus> stood.

「Where his spear reaches shall become the sea.」

One of the three main gods of <Olympus>. The Spear That Draws the Boundary of the Sea—Poseidon.

Uriel gave a bitter smile.

[Ah, the rumor’s already spread that far?]

Instead of answering, Poseidon gripped his beloved spear Trident. The waves of the deep sea erupted like an active volcano through the spear shaft of Trident.

Like someone who had lost his mind, I staggered and forced myself to stand.

“Uriel. You can’t. Uriel—”

Even for Uriel, she couldn’t possibly face all of them at once.

I had to stop her.

At this rate, Uriel would die.

But my voice wouldn’t come out properly.

I grabbed Yu Joonghyuk’s wrist. Begging him, please save Uriel.

But Yu Joonghyuk spoke in a blunt voice.

“The scenario I received is to protect you.”

I wanted to unleash a torrent of curses at him. But my exhausted body wouldn’t obey.

The towering wave crashed toward Uriel. It was a tidal wave she couldn’t withstand alone in her exhausted state.

Boom.

It was then that the sound of cannon fire came from somewhere.

Boom.

One shot, two shots, three shots. The successive bombardment struck the onrushing wave head-on. Smashing it, smashing it again. The force of the tidal wave slowly began to wane.

Goosebumps rose along my spine.

I had no idea what on earth was happening.

“You’re doing well. Make sure you keep that promise, Master.”

I knew the owner of that voice.

Lee Jihye.

She, too, was absolutely someone who shouldn’t be here, someone impossible to be here.

Yu Joonghyuk also stared at Lee Jihye in shock. It was only natural. The ‘rank’ flowing from her entire body right now was clearly above even Yu Joonghyuk’s own.

“Mister.”

The moment I heard her voice directed at me, I knew at once.

Which ‘Lee Jihye’ she had come from.

“I really can’t help much. This ‘covenant’ is really short.”

A covenant with another world.

She had come here even at the cost of entering into that unreasonable contract.

“Thanks for saving Gilyoung.”

“Gilyoung is—”

“Don’t worry. He’s fine.”

Fortunately, it seemed Lee Gilyoung had safely returned to the <Kim Dokja Company>.

“When your younger sibling comes home all beaten up for no reason, as an older sister you can’t just sit still, right.”

Even though I knew it shouldn’t, my chest kept swelling.

The <Kim Dokja Company> had come.

Not to block us, but to save us.

Lee Jihye looked at me with calm eyes for a moment, then turned back to Yu Joonghyuk and spoke.

“Master. I’ll say this once. Take Mister and run with everything you’ve got.”

Yu Joonghyuk frowned. His expression clearly said he didn’t like the idea that he had to ‘run away’.

But Lee Jihye ignored that look and continued.

“You know if you let Mister get taken, it’s all over, right?”

“Even if you don’t tell me—”

“If by any chance he dies…”

Drawing the ‘Twin Dragon Swords’ from her waist, Lee Jihye added in an icy tone,

“Then you die by my hand, Master.”

Yu Joonghyuk’s mouth fell open as if he found it absurd.

Well, where in the world would that Yu Joonghyuk ever hear that kind of line from Lee Jihye.

But that Lee Jihye had the right to say it.

She was the Lee Jihye of the 1,864th round.

A member of the <Kim Dokja Company>, an incarnation of the Admiral of Loyalty and Martial Valor, and the heir of the Heaven-Breaking Sword Sect who shattered the sky after Yu Joonghyuk.

[Constellation, ‘War God of the Seas’, spiritedly aids his incarnation.]

Just when had they appeared.

There were stars watching over this world, even though it didn’t have a scenario.

[Constellation, ‘Bald Militia Commander’, cheers on the War God of the Seas.]

[Constellation, ‘Number One Sword of Goryeo’, marvels at the War God of the Seas’ spirit.]

[Constellation, ‘Supreme Horseback Archer’, praises the War God of the Seas’ courage.]

They were the stars of the Korean Peninsula.

[The ‘Temporary Channel’ is now in operation.]

It seemed Bihyung had opened a temporary channel for me.

Responding to their indirect messages, Poseidon stepped forward.

[How dare you. This is no place for mere hero-grade constellations to meddle.]

At Poseidon’s gesture, waves began surging in from all directions. Between the waves, top-tier marine species raised their heads. Fangs shot out as if they would rip Lee Jihye apart at any moment.

Lee Jihye swung her sword toward those teeth of the wave.

Heaven-Breaking Sword Art.

Secret technique.

Heaven-Breaking Meteor Strike.

The sword light that flashed from the Twin Dragon Swords skewered all the marine species within the wave.

Poseidon’s eyes widened in shock, and the surging deep-sea swell froze for an instant.

As if it were paying reverence to another lord of the sea.

The stars of the 1,864th round called her this:

「Lord of the Great Sea.」

The sound of crashing waves rang out.

Using the pitch-black universe as her sea, the prows of ships began to rise one by one behind Lee Jihye.

“Our Master had a bout with Odin, you know.”

Standing at the head of the assembled fleet, she looked down at Olympus’s sea god with arrogant eyes.

“If my opponent is you, at least I won’t lose face.”

When enraged Poseidon swung Trident, another tidal wave surged in.

The woman standing before that tidal wave raised the Twin Dragon Swords. The [Ghost Fleet] began to move.

「The Lord of the Great Sea does not lose at sea.」

As if to prove that sentence, Lee Jihye opened her mouth.

“Load the guns.”