In the pitch-black darkness of the theater, two glaring eyes sparkled.

A sound of someone knocking on the theater door at regular intervals. Asmodeus ignored the sound and focused on the screen.

「"Haha, hahahahat! I, I can get strong now too! Kim Dokja, you bastard! You didn’t know this, did you!"」

On the screen, a man was shouting. A middle-aged man with demon blood splattered here and there was stabbing the fallen “Watcher of Light and Darkness” with a Mole Cricket Sword.

「"Pacifism? You idiot! What pacifism is there in a world like this! That’s why a guy like you can’t ever be the top dog! Get it—"」

Bang bang bang. The knocking on the theater door grew harsher. Asmodeus, frowning slightly, let out an annoyed sigh, turned off the screen, and opened the theater door.

【What is it, Recluse.】

“Recluse” was the assistant Recorder Asmodeus had taken in not long ago. The writing style was gloomy, but they had shown talent in manifesting [Fate] in shorthand, so Asmodeus had brought them in, thinking they would be useful to keep nearby.

They seemed to have a bit of an inflated ego, but they didn’t talk much, and by the Heavenly Flying Fox’s grading standards, they had achieved a “red” grade, so Asmodeus had thought taking them in wouldn’t be a nuisance, but….

【I believe I told you not to come looking for me unless it was urgent.】

【I’m sorry, Demon King of the Cinema. There’s something I must report urgently.】

Watching Recluse babble at a speed even faster than shorthand [Fate], Asmodeus decided to hear them out for now.

【…From the Heavenly Flying Fox’s “Record Archive”? Is that true?】

【Yes.】

To summarize what Recluse said—

A Recorder wearing a “white fox mask” had appeared in the Heavenly Flying Fox’s subspace, the “Record ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Archive.” And that mysterious Recorder had “traded” information that sounded serious even at a glance.

【Food the Oldest Dream hates? You’re saying they proposed a ‘deal’ with information like that?】

【Yes, so….】

【Ahahat.】

At Asmodeus’s sudden burst of laughter, Recluse made a puzzled expression. Asmodeus gave a small fake cough and added,

【I’m curious. That ‘Record Archive’—which city is it connected to?】

Seeing Asmodeus show interest, Recluse opened their mouth in a noticeably brighter voice.

【The access point for that archive is—】

That was when a small murmur came from a corner of the theater.

「Oh—」

A little child’s singing voice. As Recluse flinched at the strange quality in that voice, the other little children sitting in different seats began to open their mouths one by one.

「Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh」

The children were chanting in chorus.

The strange Plausibility that seized the theater.

Recluse, hit with a vicious wave of dizziness, staggered.

【Ah.】

When they raised their head, Asmodeus was wearing an enraptured expression.

As if they had forgotten every story they’d been hearing until just now, Asmodeus left Recluse behind and walked step by step into the seating area, then sank down.

A moment later, an image began to float up on the torn theater screen.

「…The King of Terror is descending…」

A chorus that made your stomach churn just from hearing it. Inside Asmodeus, the tale of “terror” began to resonate and ring out.

【I see. Truly a return worthy of you.】

‘New Murim Earth.’ Above that sky, the master of terror was descending.

The screaming cries of terrified Recorders. Even in the middle of it, the Recorders’ desperate struggle to write even one more line continued.

「At last, the Watcher of Light and Darkness was revealing itself.」
「The master of the time stratum, who receives the awe of all stars…」
「The boy of the old house, resonating with the sorrow of things that have disappeared…」

A battlefield on blank space where the desire to write, read, and survive was whipping into a frenzy. Staring at that battlefield, Asmodeus spoke to Recluse, who was trembling while leaning against a corner of the theater.

【Watch, Recluse. This world is ‘a fight of a single line.’】

With a single line, life and death are decided, and with a single line, someone’s [Fate] is written. And with a single line, the ending of an entire world can be decided, too.

What matters is who writes that “last sentence,” and how.

【The end of the world line truly isn’t far now.】

‘Star hunting’ was beginning.

「"Don’t use the ‘second mode.’"」

The moment I activated my tale, I instinctively recalled Han Sooyoung’s words.

「"Your ‘second mode’ is still incomplete. If you use it wrong, you might get eaten by the tale."」

The second mode Han Sooyoung spoke of. It was borrowing the power of the “King of Terror.”

[A tale, ‘King of Terror,’ is resonating with you.]

The instant I stepped into the ‘Great Hole,’ the darkness of the world spoke to me.

【Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh】

The screams of the Outer Gods scattered all throughout <Star Stream>. Outer Gods of an unfathomable rank, scattered across each world line, were peering down at me.

【King of Terror】

Even though it was a situation that would normally have sent me into a panic, I wasn’t afraid. Maybe it was because I’d subconsciously realized they weren’t hostile to me.

【We welcome you to our playground】

Of course, not all Outer Gods were friendly.

【The smell of a star】

【You are ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■…?】

The next moment, with a terrifying spark, tales poured out from inside me.

[A tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ is exercising its authority.]
[A giant tale, ‘Watcher of Light and Darkness,’ begins its story.]

The second Kim Dokja’s main giant tale, ‘Watcher of Light and Darkness,’ was wriggling.

A context so distant it couldn’t even be compared to existing “tales” began to sweep over me.

「A ‘giant tale’ is like a kind of natural phenomenon. That story does not compromise with an incarnation, and only realizes itself through the incarnation’s flesh as a medium.」

In pain that felt like it was burning my brain, my sense of self kept going blurry.

Was this why Han Sooyoung told me not to use it?

Desperately, I recalled the story of the “second.” To control this tale, I needed to imitate the owner of this tale, even a little.

「Who is the ‘King of Terror.’」

An existence born from a fragment of the origin of <Star Stream>—the “Oldest Dream.” The master of the “time stratum,” who dreams, and enjoys interpreting those dreams.

All Recorders who saw him struggled to leave behind even a single line of interpretation about him, and all stars who saw him would recoil, terrified of a fear that light couldn’t interpret—

「The aberration of <Star Stream>.」

Unlike the first, who talked a bit too much, I had barely ever spoken with the second.

But I did remember the scenery I saw with him in the “big house.” The feeling he had toward the “time stratum.” The pity he showed to Otherworldly Divinity—Outer Gods. The curiosity that didn’t turn away from the stories of a mere extra or an evildoer.

「A monster born unable to do anything but love every story.」

Just maintaining my existence felt like it would collapse my mind.

Barely holding onto my sense of self, I walked the path of the ‘Great Hole.’

A path of stars and darkness. In gazes mixed with terror and awe, at last, the “hole’s” exit came into view.

「The ‘King of Terror’ will lend an ear to the story once more.」

It felt like ash-gray was settling over all the scenery of the world.

「With eyes closed, seeing the world, and with ears blocked, hearing the truth, the master of terror will descend.」

The living things that burned to death without leaving even a collar behind. The traces of all existences being forgotten kept catching my eye.

「I hate sad things.」

This was the world the “King of Terror” had been watching.

[Th-That’s, that can’t be—]

The god of flames that burned the earth was looking up this way with eyes of shock.

[There’s no way that, that wicked being could still be alive—!]

Have you ever seen a god be afraid?

[A tiny number of constellations attempt to leave the channel!]

I was watching it.

「"If you have no choice but to reveal your power early…"」

While all living things that felt “terror” didn’t dare raise their heads, I slowly moved my feet and approached the god of flames.

「"Show them the difference in power for sure. So that no one in <Star Stream> can ignore you. That’s how you protect what’s precious to you."」

The presence of the “King of Terror” filled all of ‘New Murim Earth.’

「Ex is tence va cu um ex is tence va cu um ex is tence va cu um ex is tence va cu um」
「Light re mnant light re mnant light re mnant light re mnant light re mnant」
「To■to toto■to toto■to toto■to toto■to toto■to toto■to toto■to」

The Recorders who had gone mad, facing a terror they couldn’t interpret, were spewing meaningless sentences.

Agni, too, watching me, was reading something completely different.

「A man who had seen the end of a world was there.」

The end of the world. The scenery of the “Final Wall” I had reached twice through the “King of Terror.” The possibility of an end that all stars revere and fear at the same time.

[Th, aaah, aaahhhhhhh—!]

A god who glimpsed that possibility began to weep tears of blood from its entire body.

[Some Horror Recorders flee from this scenario battlefield!]

Some Recorders who sensed the ill omen finally attempted to escape the scenario.

【Bihyung.】

At my call, sparks crashed down across all of ‘New Murim Earth.’

[The Administration Bureau temporarily prohibits leaving the scenario in this region.]
[The ‘Horror Recorders’ of this region fall into great confusion!]

I won’t let a single one of them escape. I won’t let them run from the sentences they wrote. I won’t let them avert their eyes from old sorrow.

「The backlash of a destroyed [Fate] returns to the existences that stirred it up.」

Each time Agni took a step back, it felt like I could hear the Recorders’ groans by my ear.

[Great Nebula, <Veda>, cannot hide its confusion at your existence.]
[Great Nebula, <Veda>, provides additional Plausibility!]

Receiving <Veda>’s Plausibility, Agni barely regained composure, endured the Backlash of Plausibility, and shouted.

[Recorders. Don’t panic. That isn’t the real ‘King of Terror.’ He is already dead. His death has already been recorded! That is nothing but the remnants of dead terror—!]

That was true. Right now, I couldn’t use the overwhelming authority of “terror” that the “King of Terror” had shown.

His sanctuary, the apocalypse region, had already been destroyed, and the “time strata” he managed were all closed.

Right now, I was nothing but Kim Dokja wearing the “King of Terror”’s clothes.

[The Horror Recorders begin to reorganize their records!]

Like rats cornered, the Recorders were gathering again. Now, they were desperate too.

Of course they were. If Agni died here, they would die too.

Looking at those Recorders, I quietly smiled.

「They don’t understand, even a little, what kind of existence the ‘King of Terror’ is.」

What it meant to balance a great Lokapala and the equilibrium of Plausibility just by “existing”—they would learn from now on.

Slowly, I opened my mouth.

【Heavenly Flying Fox, King Wei Long.】

As if the world had stopped, before that quiet mantra, all words in the world fell silent.

【Demon King of the Cinema, Demon Lord of Lust, Asmodeus.】

The sky turned pitch-black and the stars held their breath. The Recorders who had stopped recording were focusing on my words.

【I warn all ‘Recorders,’ including them. No matter who tries to stop me, if anyone dares write [Fate] in front of me—】

As if carving a mantra into their souls, I record terror.

【That [Fate] will be your last sentence.】

This was a kind of finale.

Agni shouted convulsively.

[Don’t listen to that nonsense. He’s nothing but a shell. According to the information that just came down from the nebula—!]

And the next moment, an ominous backlash began to blow through his entire body.

[What?]

The sentences surrounding him were coming apart. All the tales that had strengthened his Plausibility, praised him, and protected him were collapsing.

「In that instant, Agni realized what was happening.」

Agni, terrified, hurriedly turned and swept his gaze over the air.

[<Veda>! Right now—!]

「The ‘King of Terror’’s authority, ‘a finale no one can refuse to hear.’」

With this authority, every Recorder in this scenario region had just heard “information they must not hear.”

[All ‘Horror Recorders’ involved in the stirring of ‘Fate’ in ‘New Murim Earth’ fall into a ‘recording suspended’ state.]

As Agni’s incarnation body, strengthened through the Recorders’ [Fate], weakened, the god’s incarnation body, unable to bear the Plausibility condensed inside, began to swell.

[N-No…!]

With the Backlash of Plausibility, Agni’s entire body exploded before my eyes.