Chapter 167

               

‘…Is this the end?’

Gula looked around with a devastated expression.

Endlessly swarming legions of death.

He was already surrounded on all sides, with no route of escape.

The Arch Warriors who had once driven enemies back with the force of a hundred to one had all vanished without a trace.

…How did it come to this?

They had clearly been fighting on equal footing.

“S-save me!”

“This isn’t a war!”

“Humans can’t fight a monster like that—Anubis is impossible!”

Those who lost the will to fight fled in panic.

When Anubis first appeared, and when the million-strong death legion burst from the ground, the situation hadn’t been this hopeless.

In fact, under Gula’s command, they had handled the death legion with surprising efficiency.

All trials had been cleared quickly, their stats were at their peak.

Their confidence had overflowed.

They believed they could win.

Death! Anubis! Ahheta!

All united, they cried for victory.

With the balance restored, they believed that sheer willpower would let them prevail.

But—

‘Ahheta, you filthy creature with no pride as a creator…!’

The Master of the Moon, Ahheta, interfered.

The very creator of the Third Night forcibly shattered the balance that had finally been established.

《Creator ‘Ahheta’ inserts coins.》

《Using a large number of coins, the ‘restriction’ placed on Anubis is lifted.》

《The ‘restriction’ is a forced seal placed to maintain balance in the Third Night.》

《The restriction on ‘Anubis’ is lifted. He returns to his original form.》

《The most heinous beast of death reveals itself!》

At once, Anubis’s body expanded like it was inflating, and the ‘Beast of Death’ descended.

A massive body easily ten meters tall.

Thick black fur covering every inch.

Twelve red eyes and countless three-rowed fangs that looked capable of ripping apart anything they touched.

‘Ah…’

He knew instinctively.

That thing was not a monster they could fight.

As long as one lived, one could not stand before that beast of death.

Only Gula, already dead, could withstand its presence—but the living had no choice but to flee in terror.

“Why can’t we escape?!”

“I-I can’t use coins!”

“That damned Ahheta!”

Ahheta had even blocked escape via coins.

Almost as if trying to hide his disgraceful actions.

It was clear he intended for no one to leave alive.

KROAAAAAAAH—!

Anubis let out a monstrous roar.

A furious wind swept across the ground like a raging storm.

Everyone within a one-kilometer radius turned into smoke the instant the roar touched them.

A single roar from the Beast of Death had killed them instantly.

Even with their stats raised to the limit, they couldn’t endure.

‘Anubis’s true body… that thing is the strongest beast.’

Disgusting and grotesque, yet overwhelmingly powerful.

He had spent ages serving as a commander of the death legion, but even he had never seen Anubis’s true form.

Perhaps that was why—

Gula couldn’t easily swing his sword.

The roar of Anubis had crushed his resolve.

Ahheta was trying to end the war as quickly as possible.

‘Ahheta plans to end the Third Night before he completes the Legendary Quest.’

The reason was obvious.

The Death Temple and its territory might be stolen.

The man who restored his god.

‘…Are you afraid of him, Ahheta?’

Park Chan-woo.

Ahheta feared Park Chan-woo.

He feared him so much that he committed acts no creator should commit.

Breaking balance, pouring in massive coins, altering rules.

He hadn’t expected him to go this far.

Had he known, he would have prepared more thoroughly.

‘I must… buy time.’

He needed to stall.

Until Park Chan-woo conquered the Death Temple.

“O god of light, Ahwesh! Grant me your strength!”

Gula ignited his divine energy.

He forcibly moved his body by burning every last drop of power.

He twisted and consumed even his final essence.

This meant permanent death, but he didn’t care.

He was already dead.

This was the perfect chance to atone for even a fraction of his mistakes.

How many regrets had he accumulated after being deceived by Anubis and joining the death legion?

He’d lost his memories and lived as a mere tool of death.

Slice!

At that moment—

Something skimmed past Gula’s side.

‘Anubis’s mouth…!’

He realized too late.

He barely twisted his body and avoided death, but his right arm had already been bitten off.

‘How…?’

Impossible.

A moment ago, Anubis had still been in front of the temple.

Yet somehow, its jaws had grazed him here.

“……”

Gula froze.

He couldn’t even speak.

Twelve red eyes glared at him from up close.

The massive, grotesque beast had approached him so fast that even he hadn’t noticed.

‘Is this all I am…?’

Pathetic.

To meet his end like this.

But resistance was meaningless before the Beast of Death.

It was another name for despair.

A reaper that sought only death, ending all life.

Anubis was just about to give him true death—

And then, without warning—

Kuwaaaaaaaang—!

A tremendous roar erupted from within the Death Temple.

KURUNG! KURURURUNG!

The heavens vibrated, and even the sky shook violently.

But that wasn’t all.

Brrrrrrrr!

Anubis—

The beast of death itself—was trembling.

Its twelve eyes shook as if in terror.

As though an even more monstrous beast had appeared.

But such a thing was impossible.

Nothing more grotesque than Anubis could exist.

Unless—

‘A Fierce God.’

…It would not be strange for such a thing to be called a Fierce God.

—

“Baal’s roar…!”

Ahheta recognized the roar echoing from the Death Temple.

It was unmistakably the roar of the Fierce God Baal.

Only Baal, the being of death itself, could make Anubis tremble.

‘Inside that temple… Baal’s Belt is there.’

Now it was certain.

The Archmage was inside.

But something was strange.

Baal’s roar shook the entire Third Night.

Even if it was Baal’s authority, it was merely inscribed into a belt.

Ahheta knew its natural limits.

Yet this felt like the real Baal himself roaring.

‘The Archmage strengthened the authority of the belt.’

The man tried everything.

He never expected him to amplify Baal’s authority like this.

But this was fine.

That authority was single-use.

It had a cooldown; it couldn’t be used many times.

If he had already used it, that meant he was in danger.

‘I’ve already won.’

Ahheta regained his composure.

He could not lose from the beginning.

No human could possibly defeat the Master of the Moon at full power.

To think the man could liberate the Death Temple he painstakingly built—how arrogant.

“Anubis. Move.”

Click.

He inserted coins to erase Anubis’s emotions.

Anubis soon forgot all fear.

Freed from Baal’s roar, he resumed the massacre.

…Ahheta used thousands of coins.

But none of it felt wasteful.

The Archmage.

If he could kill that man and reclaim Baal’s Belt, it was worth any cost.

‘There’s no way he can conquer the temple so quickly.’

It was impossible, even in dreams.

Left alone inside the temple, the Archmage would surely die.

To ensure victory, Ahheta intended to end the Third Night as fast as possible.

But he couldn’t.

Because suddenly—

Before his eyes—

Dding!

《The ‘Death Temple’ has been fully purified!》

《The challenger has completed the ‘Legendary Quest’!》

《An ‘Outer God’ appears!》

…Messages appeared.

“…What?”

He couldn’t believe it.

Barely a little over a day had passed.

The war was nearly over.

Yet the Archmage had cleared the Legendary Quest at an unbelievable speed.

“This… what…?”

He couldn’t understand.

He didn’t want to understand.

The First Night, the Second Night, and even the Third Night—he was about to lose all three.

‘…One remains.’

…No.

Ahheta forced himself to think.

There was still one final safeguard.

‘The strongest lifeform.’

The wish he had already bestowed upon the Outer God.

Yes.

The Outer God would be reborn as the strongest lifeform.

Now freed, the Outer God would never grant a wish to the Archmage.

He would not give away the Eternal Temple and its territory.

…This was better.

If the Archmage were going to win and take everything—

It was far better for the Outer God to awaken and kill him.

And once the Outer God emerged, Anubis—the worst of all beasts—would take care of the rest.

The ‘strongest lifeform’ was not yet complete. And the Outer God, not yet used to its new body, could not defeat Anubis, who was death itself.

‘You’ll regret waking him, Archmage.’

—

After using the Roar of the Fierce God to drive away the Reapers, Park Chan-woo used the shortcut and bypassed Section 4 entirely.

Then he faced the ‘Outer God.’

“How interesting, human.”

“…You’re the Outer God?”

Park Chan-woo asked with doubt.

The entity that appeared upon clearing Section 4 was different from what he imagined.

A child’s body with two red horns.

“Sadly, this vessel is not fully matured, but I am without doubt the ‘Eternal Outer God.’ Some call me the ‘God of Wishes.’”

So it was true.

Park Chan-woo nodded.

‘This is the strongest lifeform Ahheta was trying to create.’

The Outer God had descended into the body.

It now controlled the vessel freely.

“You freed me, so I shall grant a wish. Ah, you need not respond. I can simply read your greatest desire. Let’s see… hmm? Archmage?”

“……”

“Haha! Your greatest dream is to master magic? Very well. I shall gift you ten thousand spells. How about that?”

“I don’t need it.”

“Hm? No? Then… oh? A savior? But saving humanity is just a pretext. What you truly desire is to reach the ultimate peak. You want a great power capable of shaking The Abyss?”

“I don’t need it.”

“Hoh. You want neither magic nor power beyond measure. Yet that is all I sense from you. What is it that you desire, then?”

The Outer God tilted its head.

…It was impressive.

It had accurately read his desires.

But magic and power were things Park Chan-woo would earn himself.

The wish he sought now was the same as when he first came here.

“Remove the ‘death’ eating away at me.”

“Eternal life? You wish to become an immortal? That is possible, of course—”

“I’m talking about erasing the status ailment ‘Terminal.’”

“A status ailment? I see.”

The Outer God stroked its chin and nodded.

Then, as if it were nothing, it spoke again with a relaxed smile.

“That is simple. Very well. I shall erase your ‘Terminal.’”