Chapter 145
[All terms of this contract shall be fully delegated to a ‘proxy’.]
[The designated proxy shall be ‘Mid-Level Administrator Leon’.]
The moment the message appeared, the ropes binding Leon snapped apart.
No.
More accurately...
They were pulled so tightly that they tore themselves in two.
Bright light began swirling around Leon's body.
Then he slowly floated into the air.
"W-Why is my body doing this, nya?!"
"Lee Suhyeok, something's weird, nya!"
"H-Help me, nya...!"
[Mid-Level Administrator Leon has become the proxy of Upper Administrator Shaka.]
[All authorities have been delegated.]
[Exclusive rights over the Constellation channel have been delegated.]
Leon wasn't the only one stunned by the suddenly modified contract.
Shaka stared blankly at the hollow shell that remained of his Upper Administrator authority.
At this point...
He had effectively lost the Rank of an Upper Administrator.
Lost his authority.
And lost every achievement he'd built over hundreds, even thousands of years.
"This is invalid...."
"T-This is invalid!!"
"This violates the contract!"
"There is no such thing as a contract this unfair!"
"Therefore, it's invalid!!"
At that moment...
Cracks began spreading through the white space.
The ceiling shattered like glass.
"...!!!"
Suhyeok's pupils widened.
Even Leon and Seong-a fell speechless at the grotesque creature beyond the broken ceiling.
RUMMMMMBLE... CREEEAK.
Strange, twisted tentacles began invading the space.
[An Outer God from another dimension begins eroding this space.]
[The target devours Rank.]
[All resistance stats rapidly decrease.]
[Mental barriers are collapsing.]
[Stats decrease by 10%.]
[Stats decrease by 10%. ...]
Even Suhyeok in his current state couldn't resist.
And that was merely from looking at it.
An Outer God from another dimension...?
What the hell is that thing?
A chill ran down his spine.
It was the first time since regressing that Suhyeok had felt such primal fear.
This wasn't a Constellation.
It felt like an existence from an entirely different level of reality.
More importantly...
That message.
It was eating Rank.
Suhyeok had never seen anything capable of doing that before.
"Keugh..."
His body staggered.
It felt as though the Rank surrounding him was draining away like water.
[Mythic ‘Ring of Mental Immunity’ attempts to resist the Outer God's influence.]
[Resistance is impossible.]
[The Rank of Ego Sword ‘Seong-a’ begins to be devoured.]
[Ugh... D-Dad....]
"Well."
"It seems an uninvited guest has arrived."
Ruzian smiled faintly.
"My apologies, Mr. Lee Suhyeok."
Snap.
He clicked his fingers.
The tentacles that had been continuing deeper into the space suddenly stopped.
It felt as though time around them had frozen.
[The System intervenes in the current situation.]
The tentacles Ruzian had halted slowly began moving again.
The System's immense presence collided with Ruzian's.
The entire space shook violently.
RUMMMMMMMMMBLE!!
Two enormous Ranks clashed.
Even Suhyeok could barely remain standing.
The atmosphere felt as though any one of them might have their very existence erased.
Then...
"Kukuk..."
"Kuhahahahaha!"
Ruzian suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter.
He clutched his stomach and kept laughing.
Suhyeok immediately felt something was strange.
"Hahaha."
"So it finally came to this."
"Since you've handed me this opportunity..."
"I suppose I have no choice but to make my poisoned move."
Then...
[A special authority granted to the Highest-Level Administrator by the Tower activates.]
[This authority may be used when an external existence or phenomenon severely violates the Tower's rules.]
"KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK──!!!"
"Keugh!"
The scream was loud enough to tear apart Suhyeok's eardrums.
He and Leon immediately covered their ears.
[The target is expelled outside the dimension.]
[An error occurs within the System.]
[Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning!]
The shattered ceiling began repairing itself.
The tentacles were dragged backward along with it.
Shaka stared at the scene in disbelief, betrayal written all over his face.
"You knew this would happen!"
"That's why you were spouting that nonsense at me earlier?!"
"You think you can do something this absurd and remain unharmed──"
"Why not?"
Shaka froze.
Ruzian smiled.
"Shaka, you seem to be misunderstanding something."
"I didn't bring up ‘her’ because I already knew this situation would happen."
He slowly walked toward Shaka, who was now kneeling on the ground.
Then lowered himself beside him and whispered into his ear.
"I brought her up because I wanted you to create this situation yourself."
"That way..."
"I'd have justification to sever the contract between you and the System."
"...!!"
Ruzian straightened and shrugged.
"Of course..."
"I didn't expect you to bring an Outer God into this."
"That forced me to accept some losses of my own."
Dark crimson static crackled around Ruzian's right arm.
It looked almost like a system error.
"Player Lee Suhyeok."
"This was thanks to you."
"You noticed what I wanted and acted accordingly."
"That allowed me to resolve the matter without issue."
"I'd rather you properly pay the reward you promised."
Suhyeok's voice remained cold.
"And give me information on those things too."
"Haha."
"You seem to want quite a lot."
"But understood."
"I was planning to tell you eventually anyway."
Leon tilted his head, still completely lost.
"S-So what exactly is happening, nya...?"
"Why are the Highest-Level Administrator and Lee Suhyeok...?"
Before he could finish...
Seong-a suddenly appeared and hugged Leon tightly.
"What else could it mean?"
"We're all on the same side!"
Leon stiffened at the unexpected hug.
Then Seong-a grinned warmly.
"You know it's been forever since we saw each other, right?"
"Don't leave again, kitty."
"Okay?"
"Hehe."
"..."
Tears welled in Leon's eyes at Seong-a's warmth.
She kept smiling as though nothing had happened.
"Wow, you've gotten huge."
"I need both arms to hug you now."
Leon silently buried himself in her arms.
Then...
Rustle.
His body gradually shrank.
The larger form he'd grown into slowly returned to its original size.
"...Sniff."
"Y-Yeah, nya."
"I'm not leaving anymore, nya."
