Chapter 167

Chapter 167

There’s No One Left to Protect

[As of April 2nd, chapters 159 to 163 have been revised and extended to chapters 159 to 167. The content is entirely different, so if you read before April 2nd, please start from chapter 159 again, or read the summary provided at the beginning of chapter 168.]

***

While such thoughts were running through his mind, the roaring flames had already reached right in front of him. Just as he was about to throw himself into the fire.

Boom—

“…?!”

The atmosphere suddenly shifted.

“Ugh!”

Thud! Thud!

From behind, the rough groans of people collapsing to the ground echoed in succession. Lian swallowed dryly as he stared at the ominous flames before him.

‘Gargandoa… Is this really just a flashy spell?’

[…No, not anymore.]

‘What do you mean—’

Before Lian could even finish his sentence, ‘something’ was looking down at them.

“Gasp!”

The ground cracked with a creaking sound, as if a massive weight was pressing down on the surroundings, and Lian’s feet began to sink into the earth. His body felt as heavy as a thousand tons.

This wasn’t some kind of attack using gravity. The sheer ‘presence’ alone had warped gravity itself.

“A-Ah…”

Someone let out a groan, their voice filled with awe. It was a familiar voice—the voice of the priest.

“Glory, glory…!”

As the voice, filled with reverence, echoed out.

Splat.

The priest’s head exploded.

“Gurgle… Gurgle…”

“Urgh…”

The villagers, lying flat on the ground, were soaked in the warm blood and flesh that rained down on their faces, gasping as if on the verge of death. They couldn’t even move a single finger, only their eyes trembling in terror.

It wasn’t any different for the knights or mages. All of them were equally flattened to the ground, writhing helplessly.

“Ugh…”

Only the Duke, Noah, and Iris managed to stay on their knees, struggling to rise. Jess growled, her body creaking as she repeatedly forced herself up like a beast, only to collapse again.

Iris, though not as physically strong as the Duke or Noah, was able to hold on due to some unknown ‘existence’ lingering inside her.

The only one standing on his feet was Lian.

‘Gargandoa… What the hell is happening right now?’

The situation and atmosphere, which always felt lighthearted thanks to his gag filter, now felt as eerie and chilling as a scene from his past life.

The ‘survival instinct’ that had been dormant for so long was now sharply awakened, terrifyingly clear.

[Something has been summoned here through that spell. Damn it, it’s something similar to what those lunatics were worshipping.]

At the word ‘worship’, Lian thought of the ‘Outsiders.’

‘No way…’

Before his thoughts could go any further, the cursed sword cut him off.

[Partner, leave this place immediately. No matter how strong I’ve become, I can’t cut down something of this caliber.]

The cursed sword, which always boasted about its strength, now spoke seriously, urging him to run without looking back.

[If we give it our all, we can at least escape from here.]

‘What about the others…?’

[…]

‘What will happen to the others if I run away?’

[They’ll die.]

At the cursed sword’s blunt response, Lian firmly replied.

‘Then I’m not going.’

[But…]

‘If I run away now, it’ll only lead to destruction.’

There was no hope for a world without a hero.

‘Besides—running away like this would be way too embarrassing.’

Lian slyly whispered words that would appeal to the cursed sword, and it immediately reacted, swayed by emotion.

[Heh, you’re right. That would be pretty lame.]

With the cursed sword’s agreement, all that was left was to deal with that terrifyingly dreadful existence.

‘I’m not asking to defeat it. Isn’t there a way to buy enough time for the others to escape?’

[There is. It has only summoned a part of itself through that spell, so if you enter and break the spell, you can destroy the connection. But that’s like entering its stomach and tearing it apart from the inside.]

‘So, I might die?’

[You’ll definitely die. It’s just a matter of how long it takes.]

For a moment, Lian wondered if dying this time would mean he wouldn’t return to the gag world and would simply disappear. The overwhelming presence in front of him made it seem like his powers wouldn’t work, but he wasn’t sure—it was just a guess. He wouldn’t know for sure until he died.

‘Well, it’ll work out somehow!’

With the optimistic mindset typical of a gag resident, Lian shook off the creeping fear and lifted the cursed sword with trembling hands.

‘The destination hasn’t changed.’

[Hmm, this isn’t such a bad way to go.]

The cursed sword, still caught up in its emotions, or perhaps genuinely thinking it wouldn’t be so bad to die alongside Lian, spoke calmly about its own death.

“Li-Lian!”

“…!”

Just as Lian was about to step into the ominous flames, a suppressed voice grabbed his ankle. He turned his head toward the sound and saw Noah, her lips bleeding from how hard she had bitten them, using her sword as a crutch to try to stand.

Seeing Noah’s face filled with worry, Lian unintentionally let out a nonchalant remark.

“I’ll be right back, so stay out of the way!”

With a tone that made it sound like it was no big deal, as if he would return after solving everything like usual, Lian stepped into the flames. Among the crackling sounds of fire, it seemed as if he could hear someone’s scream.

Rumble.

‘Ah.’

The moment Lian entered ‘its’ interior, he felt a wave of dizziness.

‘Ah…’

‘It’ was a supreme existence that humans could never face. It couldn’t be comprehended, defined, or recognized by human intellect—and it shouldn’t be.

The ‘existence’ that was looking down at Lian was on a completely different level from any Outsider he had encountered before.

The existence knew Lian. It knew that Lian had crossed over from another world, that he was chosen by the god of the Dark Fantasy World, and that he possessed powers no human should ever wield.

Just as humans don’t go out of their way to kill every insect, the existence left Lian alone. He posed no threat to it.

The reason the existence had paid the price of immense causality to find Lian was simple.

Rumble.

‘Indeed, a suitable body.’

The existence looked down at Lian, whose face was blank as if he had lost his mind. His body, carefully crafted by the hands of a god, was perfect for hosting the existence.

Satisfied, the existence wrapped its tentacle-like hands around Lian’s body, preparing to return to its domain, the Demon King’s Castle. But in that moment—

Whirr.

Lian’s previously vacant eyes suddenly snapped into focus, glaring directly at the existence. What happened next was something no human soul could ever do—or should ever do.

It was like a natural disaster gaining consciousness—an impossible event. Even the high-level existence couldn’t comprehend it, and for a moment, it froze.

Slice.

In that fleeting moment, the cursed sword moved like a painting, cutting off a part of the existence.

An inexplicable, miraculous event. The existence was once again frozen in place.

‘What in the world…?’

For a mere human, with a soul of such low standing, to cut a part of an existence that was practically a part of the universe itself—there was no logic to explain it.

The existence was confused, startled, intrigued, amused, and enraged.

But its conclusion remained the same as before.

‘I want it even more now.’

It would take this extraordinary body and make it its own.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of excitement, the existence took Lian and immediately transported them to the Demon King’s Castle.

Whoosh!

The ominous flames that had been burning so unpleasantly vanished in an instant, and the oppressive presence that had weighed down on the earth disappeared just as quickly.

Clang!

Thud! Thud!

As soon as the existence vanished, those who had barely managed to stay upright collapsed or dropped their swords. Even the knights, who considered dropping their swords a disgrace, couldn’t berate anyone for losing their grip this time.

“Aaah!”

“Eek!”

The priest’s corpse, with its head horrifically blown apart, lay on the ground as if to prove that what they had experienced was no dream. Some of the villagers who had managed to stay conscious fainted in terror, while others crawled on weak arms and legs to tend to their fallen family members.

As the villagers breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that everyone except the priest had survived.

“Where is Lian? Where is Lian?”

“This can’t be true, right? It’s not true, is it?”

The people of the Duke’s household, belatedly realizing Lian’s sacrifice, were drowning in guilt and despair.

“No, no! It’s a lie!”

Iris, her legs trembling, ran to the spot where the flames had been and frantically dug through the ground. The knight commander tried to stop her, but the Duke, biting her lip, held him back.

“…Let her be until she calms down.”

The Duke, knowing the pain of losing someone precious, couldn’t bring herself to stop Iris.

“…”

Jess, her expression completely blank, silently stared at the spot where the flames had once flickered. As her anger surpassed a certain threshold, her mind cooled, and her thoughts became sharper than ever. She thought, and thought, and thought again.

…About why her master had to be alive and how she could bring him back to her side. Her red eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

“Aaah… Aaah!”

Noah clutched her head, unable to form coherent words. The shock and anger of losing him right before her eyes choked her. Her tears blurred her vision and fell, soaking the ground.

Through her blurry vision, she saw the Ranger unit commander approaching with a bitter expression.

‘Ah…’

Only then did Noah fully understand the advice he had given her. She no longer needed to wrestle with whether her desires were sinful or noble sacrifices.

The one she had to protect was gone.

End of Chapter