Chapter 196
Meanwhile, at that same time...
"...It's begun."
Inside the temple...
Peridot closed her eyes and checked what was happening throughout the Tower.
Fortunately...
None of the horrific phenomena occurring outside had reached this place.
But that didn't mean this place was completely safe.
If Suhyeok ultimately lost...
Then the people peacefully cultivating their villages here would meet the same miserable extinction as everyone outside.
The screams of residents from countless floors echoed in her ears.
Even Peridot...
Who normally showed almost no emotion...
Couldn't hide the bitterness on her face.
She gently ran her hand across the Primordial God's enormous grave.
Then...
Her lips trembled as she spoke.
"...I'm afraid."
"I can't sense his Rank anywhere in the Tower."
"Will he truly be able to accomplish the task you entrusted to him?"
"Or have we simply brought our destruction forward?"
She knew.
It was already far too late for regrets.
But the desperate screams filling her ears...
Made it feel as though they were accusing her.
As though telling her that while they suffered...
She alone remained alive here.
Peridot stared blankly at the grave...
Lost in those thoughts.
Then...
Zzt.
"...!!"
A sudden current ran through her entire body.
Goosebumps rose across her skin.
Peridot raised both arms and stared at them in disbelief.
"That was..."
"That was Lord Lee Suhyeok's Rank."
"But from where...?"
At present...
Suhyeok's Rank couldn't be sensed anywhere inside the Tower.
She was certain of that.
Then what had she just felt?
There was no mistaking it.
That had been Suhyeok's Rank.
At that moment...
The Chalice of Reincarnation suddenly came to mind.
The Chalice could send a single existence into a past timeline.
And even if that timeline differed from the present...
They were still connected as part of one continuous branch.
An absurd possibility began forming in Peridot's mind.
What if Suhyeok was currently in another timeline?
What if...
From that timeline...
He had somehow sent his Rank toward the present?
There was no way to prove any of it.
For now...
It was nothing more than her desperate hope.
But...
That same desperate hope had been what started this task tens of thousands of years ago.
Peridot stared toward the empty space where she'd sensed Suhyeok's Rank.
Then whispered,
"Lord Lee Suhyeok."
"Please."
"Save this Tower..."
"Save all of us."
[The opening of Hidden Stage ‘The End of the Story’ affects the surrounding space.]
[The entire area transforms into the Stage's battlefield.]
The instant the message appeared...
A massive earthquake shook the area.
The previously empty underground space began changing.
Pillars rose from the ground one after another.
The walls transformed into stone surfaces illuminated by torches.
Even the rough floor changed in an instant.
RUMMMMMBLE.
BOOM.
At last...
The pillars stopped rising.
There were ten in total.
They stood in a circle around the battlefield.
The violent shaking gradually subsided.
Then...
A transparent barrier appeared directly between the two sides.
[1 minute remains until the Hidden Stage begins.]
[All participants, please prepare.]
Bong Taesu stared at the transparent wall.
It was probably similar to the waiting period in a game.
The barrier would prevent allies and enemies from attacking one another until the preparation time ended.
And...
It gave them time to study their opponents.
Whoooom.
Beyond the barrier...
Sinister flows of Rank radiated from the beings on the opposite side.
Cold sweat unconsciously formed on Bong Taesu's skin.
But...
The reaction was mutual.
The enemy's eyes had widened too...
Clearly startled by the Demon God's Rank within them.
After remaining silent for a while...
Bong Taesu asked Lee Yumi beside him,
"...Lady Yumi."
"I've been looking around for a while..."
"But hyung doesn't seem to be here."
"Judging by what that Administrator said earlier..."
"He must be somewhere else right now."
"I can't sense his Mana either."
Yumi's expression hardened.
"If he can't be sensed anywhere in the Tower...."
Her gaze moved toward Ruzian.
"You said we needed to buy time."
"Did you hide him somewhere?"
"Haa..."
"Haa...."
"Yes."
"Something like that."
Ruzian barely managed the answer.
"So..."
"I'll need your help..."
"Cough!"
"Cough!"
He suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Dark clots of blood spilled from his mouth.
Veins stood out violently across his neck.
And slowly...
His body was becoming translucent.
It looked as though he were desperately struggling just to maintain his form.
Yumi and Bong Taesu both looked startled.
They moved toward him...
But Ruzian raised a hand to stop them.
"Cough..."
"I'm fine...."
"You don't need to worry about me...."
After recovering slightly...
He wiped the blood from his mouth with a trembling arm.
Then forced an awkward smile.
"I used up all of my power..."
"So please understand if conversation is somewhat difficult."
"Anyway..."
"I'll need your help."
"You only need to hold out..."
"Until Lee Suhyeok returns."
"Only until then."
Yumi frowned.
"When is that?"
"I don't know...."
Ruzian gave a vague answer.
"But..."
"It shouldn't take too long."
Yumi bit her lip in frustration.
Then...
She turned toward Kim Hyuna.
Hyuna was staring blankly beyond the barrier.
Her hands...
Which had never trembled like this before...
Were visibly shaking.
Following Hyuna's gaze...
Yumi saw a woman standing on the other side.
A woman whose face looked almost identical to Hyuna's.
Only a few distinctive features were different.
Otherwise...
They could've passed for identical twins.
It wasn't just their appearances either.
Yumi sensed something strange from the two of them.
Their energies felt completely opposite...
Yet somehow deeply similar.
"Do you know her?"
Silence followed.
