Ch.107107. Countdown Ended, Final Scenario Begun

“I see. You understand my intentions, Georgius.”

After hearing the command to fire a black hole at me, Sulphur made a shooting motion with both hands.

He’s quite the frivolous character.

“Geo, what are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to forcibly overload your dark matter. I’ll amplify it to its limit and then stabilize it.”

“Is that even possible? If something goes wrong…”

The galaxy would disappear.

Naturally, I don’t intend to let that happen.

“Can you and Sulphur handle this alone…?”

“I believe so.”

“…At least let’s change locations.”

I looked back at Sulphur. He shrugged and approached.

Whoosh!

We teleported to Lu-a’s quantum realm. We arrived at an open field in Oceania.

There are no people living on this continent, so the risk is relatively low.

“Lu-a, release as much dark matter as possible.”

“…But.”

“Trust me.”

“…Alright.”

Rumble!

As Lu-a’s body strained, unobservable black matter began pouring out from within her.

The substance, appearing like both black liquid and solid, clearly had mass but no fixed volume, momentarily looking like a small cube, then like a massive wave.

“Haa, haak—!”

Lu-a was being crushed.

The dark matter circulated, no longer generated from her body, but transitioning to a mechanism where it self-replicated and expanded.

Lu-a was trying hard to endure, but she looked in pain. Had she been straining herself for a long time, trying to contain this overflowing power?

“Begin, Sulphur.”

“Oh my. Did I ever agree to follow your orders?”

“If not, die here.”

“Haha, can’t even take a joke.”

Sulphur snapped his right finger. He extended his left hand, creating a small black sphere.

A black hole. Its original color probably isn’t black either. It only appears black because light cannot escape its gravity.

These are powers beyond human perception.

Like lightning, black lines are crushed into Sulphur’s black hole. He seems to be gathering more power than usual, as his arm is trembling without any composure.

“Gluttony.”

[GULA]

I activated the skill by attaching to my belt a card marked with a symbol that appeared after burning a thick book. I extended my right hand toward Sulphur and my left toward Lu-a.

“Ha!”

Sulphur passed the black hole to me. In my right hand was contained the immense power of collapse—a dying white dwarf, no, the death of a galaxy.

I swallowed it. Greedily, all of it.

“Hmm—”

This Sulphur fellow. Was he hiding this much power?

He must have thought that Lu-a’s dark matter couldn’t be offset by an ordinary amount.

The principle is simple.

Lu-a said there was no ability on Earth that could stop dark matter from the other side.

Then there must be something in space.

Dark matter is negative energy existing in the universe. In contrast, a black hole is positive energy.

When they collide, they create zero.

I use Gluttony to enhance this. I absorb and devour Lu-a’s dark matter with a power one level higher.

But—it’s heavier than I thought.

It’s a power humans cannot observe or understand. The time concept of the cognitive system collapses, and the body’s tension breaks down, causing intraocular pressure to explode.

I must endure.

“Haeu, haa, aaah—!!”

The one screaming now is Lu-a.

After circulating it three times inside my body, I spread my left hand with all my might.

Boom—Crash!!

Black collides with black. The flowing dark matter is sucked into the spinning black hole, causing countless chain collapses.

Boom, boom, boom!

Any one of these explosions could easily erase an entire solar system. I increase the gravity to prevent anything from escaping.

“Sulphur!”

“Working on it!”

Sulphur fired another black hole at me. I greedily absorbed it with a second Gluttony and strengthened the black hole again.

This time I circulated it five times before unleashing it on the dark matter.

Splash—Boom!

“Aah, aaak—! Geo—!!”

Lu-a fell to her knees, clutching her arms. The dark matter didn’t lose its momentum.

Not much left. Just a little more.

Fzzzzz!!

The number of black holes increased, surrounding Lu-a.

Then.

“Damn.”

[Gluttony GULA 0/10]

I clicked my tongue. Gluttony was depleted.

Sulphur was preparing the next black hole. He also looked tired.

“Stop the black hole. I can’t absorb anymore.”

“What? Hey, it’s still not enough!”

“Gluttony’s remaining count is zero. Now you need to use your black hole directly on the dark matter.”

Hearing my words, Sulphur put his hand on his chin and briefly pondered, tapping the ground with his front foot.

And soon.

Crack, splash!

He cut off his right arm and threw it at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Eat it, Georgius. That should give you one more use.”

What an amusing fellow.

He knows me thoroughly.

Whether he wants to save Lu-a or prevent the world’s destruction, he’s quite desperate.

No reason to refuse.

I immediately stuffed Sulphur’s arm down my throat.

“Hmm.”

It tasted quite good.

The mechanical devices were cumbersome, but whatever magic or energy it contained seeped into me without the revulsion I felt with Choi Minseo’s.

[Gluttony GULA 6/10]

Good efficiency too.

I activated Gluttony again. Sulphur fired a black hole toward me.

I caught a glimpse of red blood flowing from the severed surface of his arm.

“Go.”

I fired the final black hole. All vision and spatial curvature distorted.

Upon contact with dark matter, it was sucked into the black hole, reaching the event horizon and becoming unobservable.

Only someone who transcends space-time would know what’s happening inside.

And finally.

Rumble—!

Bang!!

All black holes scattered and disappeared.

Along with the dark matter contained within them.

I immediately ran to Lu-a and caught her in my arms.

“Lu-a.”

“…Geo.”

Lu-a, who had lost all strength in her body, slowly looked at me. Then she stared into the empty space as if reading something.

“…It’s gone.”

“The countdown?”

“…Yes. It’s gone. Am I… alive…?”

I carefully embraced her. Lu-a buried her face in my shoulder and burst into tears with relief.

She cried for a long time. Until she fainted from exhaustion. I continued to stroke her back.

I carried Lu-a on my back and turned to look at him.

Sulphur.

“As promised, I’ll spare you once.”

“I’m too honored to know what to do.”

“And that’s right now.”

“Haha, I knew you’d say that.”

“Sulphur, the technology to turn humans into monsters was from the Dark Kingdom. How did you use it?”

“I’m surprised the great Georgius doesn’t know. That’s not the only method.”

He admitted it.

Like Somi, he’s a human who transformed into a monster, and there’s a high probability he did it of his own will.

Using Galaxy Empire’s abilities means he must be an ability user related to those battles.

Given how well he knows me, he was likely someone close.

I have some suspicions.

However, in that case, he probably thinks it’s better that I don’t know his identity so he can be useful to me.

It was just proven that Sulphur has an operating principle of using full power to prevent world crises, even if he’s my obstacle.

Let me be capricious.

“Sulphur. A great crisis will befall the world in seven months.”

“Delightful news. I should intervene then and assassinate you.”

“If we lose, our world will be destroyed and the other world will survive.”

“Hmm.”

Sulphur nodded with interest.

“So what do you want me to do?”

“I’ll definitely eliminate you before then.”

“Haha, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Sulphur waved his remaining left hand, created a black hole on the ground, and elegantly disappeared.

***

“Huff, huff.”

Kang Yerin applied as much painkiller as she could to the severed surface of her shoulder.

The bleeding had already stopped. The wound was regenerating between the bubbling flesh. It would return to normal soon.

“…A monster.”

Looking at the writhing pieces of flesh, Kang Yerin smiled wryly.

She recalled the events of today.

Jung Ui-seok’s face.

She didn’t understand why it was so thrilling every time they met, despite having seen it thousands or tens of thousands of times.

Maybe because he was Georgius, not Jung Ui-seok.

But today her heart ached.

Calling Dark Matter by an affectionate name, and naturally risking the world’s destruction to save her.

“…He said he loved her.”

Kang Yerin covered her mouth with her trembling left hand. She barely suppressed the urge to vomit.

I never heard those words in all that time.

Dark Matter, you did it.

Jealousy didn’t come. Only regret remained.

“Still, today.”

Georgius needed Sulphur.

That fact alone was enough for Kang Yerin.

“Seven months.”

As expected, thanks to making E.lena an ally, the fourth scenario must have been ruined.

Georgius predicted that the final scenario would begin then. He was expecting action from her. Expectation was forming her driving force.

“I’ll stay strong.”

Kang Yerin resolved once more.

“Because I promised. I’ll stay strong, Se-hwa.”

Her soliloquy continued endlessly.

***

As soon as we returned to the hideout, Lena ran toward us.

“Le, Lena. I…”

Lena hugged Lu-a, covering her mouth before she could speak. Lu-a had been crying for a while, but she burst into tears again.

Boksil, thinking they were playing, tactlessly rushed over and hugged them with his large body, wiggling his bottom.

“We eliminated all the heroes. Ui-seok, good job.”

Somi stood beside me.

“We were lucky.”

It would have been difficult without Sulphur’s black hole.

“I never imagined Lu-a was carrying such a burden… She really kept it hidden thoroughly.”

“I agree. By the way, just to make sure, you don’t have any secrets hidden from me now, right?”

Somi smiled lightly at my question.

“Tell me if you have any concerns.”

“…Yes.”

Lu-a and Lena, somewhat calmed down, approached me.

“I’m sorry everyone. Somi, Geo, Lena, Boksil, for causing trouble…”

“It’s okay, Lu-a.”

Somi gently stroked Lu-a’s head.

“…I keep getting my life saved by Geo.”

“What does it matter? Since I don’t have much else, I might as well have three lives.”

“…Ahah.”

Lu-a wiped her eyes. Determination was etched on her face.

“Yes. I won’t hesitate anymore. Geo, from now on I’ll live only for you. I won’t have any more foolish thoughts and will dedicate everything to you.”

“For us. Let’s go with that.”

“…Yes.”

Lu-a blushed and raised the corners of her mouth.

“Lu-a, you’ve pushed yourself too hard, so rest for today. Geo, Somi, you too. Boksil, come here if you want to play.”

“Eh, but I want to stay with Geo more.”

“It’s not good for your body to be like that right after nearly dying.”

“That’s not it! You’re not my mother.”

Lena forcibly took Lu-a to the infirmary. Boksil followed behind, perking up his ears.

***

—————

Notice: 0 hours remaining.

Notice: Scenario opponent has been matched.

Notice: Scenario “One for All, All for Victory” has begun.

Notice: Incursion is occurring. Prepare for impact.

—————