Cold, familiar cold.
It was like being submerged in the depths of an icy sea, the chill seeping through the frost on the surface of its skin and into its very bones, unable to wake.
So this time, would it once again inevitably face the fate of being erased?
This was already the countless cycle of its being erased.
Every hundred years, its clone would awaken once again, taking the form of a helpless crow, with no power at all.
Awakening again and again, passing through countless years again and again.
Yet every time it revived, it would be noticed by the will deep within the world, and it would once again be dragged into the depths of that endless dark prison.
Waiting for it would once again be an ending in which it was erased.
Then another hundred years would pass, and everything would start over again.
This was already the tenth time. Vega should have long since become numb to it.
But this time, it had finally found a perfect partner. Success was clearly within reach.
Yet in the end, everything had once again turned to nothing, and it had no choice but to face another long hundred-year wait.
Would it be able to encounter such an opportunity again next time?
Sleeping in that cold abyss, Vega felt the silence surrounding it. It quietly waited, waiting for a new beginning.
But a sudden warmth gradually surrounded it.
Feeling this warmth, Vega could not help feeling the urge to open its one eye.
Strange.
It seemed to have awakened a little early this time.
Could it be because it had slept too deeply before and did not notice anything?
Still, this was a good thing.
Maybe Viktor would still be alive a hundred years from now?
He was so abnormal. He probably couldn't possibly die after living to a hundred, right?
Although the human lifespan was fragile.
Hmm...
Something still wasn't right.
As Vega's broken guesses continued to gather, this time, a strong smell of something burning entered its nostrils.
It was as if... something had been scorched.
Why was that?
Had it revived inside a furnace this time?
Finally, Vega sensed that something was wrong.
Because it felt that its butt was very hot.
It was as if a flame were climbing along its black tail feathers toward its entire body, and the blazing fire was directly touching its butt.
At that instant, Vega opened its one eye wide.
"Ow! Hot, hot, hot!"
It frantically flapped its wings, trying to put out the flames burning its tail feathers.
But when its wings slapped at its butt, its entire bird froze.
What was going on?
It hadn't been erased yet?
Filled with confusion, Vega looked around at the boundless crimson space.
The space was shrouded in a frightening scarlet glow, as if a dazzling flame were burning within it.
And it felt that it was floating in midair, surrounded by endless flames.
Those flames seemed to possess a consciousness of their own. Although they were scorching hot, they cleverly left an empty area around it.
Occasionally, the flames lightly brushed its feathers. Although the temperature was scorching, it was still better than being completely swallowed by the flames.
Just as Vega examined the space ahead with its deep one eye, a scythe flashing with scarlet light suddenly tore through space and swiftly slashed down toward it.
Vega's entire body stiffened in midair when it saw the fierce attack, its beak opening wide in shock.
But suddenly, a powerful invisible force supported its body, and its small body was violently pushed away like a sheet of paper.
Feeling the external force surging toward it, Vega clearly felt as if it had turned into a streak of flame and retreated, cleverly dodging the powerful strike that tore through space.
Soon, the flames and its body retreated together to a relatively safe position.
Just as it recovered its senses, it heard a voice that was ethereal and carried the faint crackling of flames, as if coming from all directions, seep into its ears, "Awake?"
This voice, and this special tone...
It raised its head, its one eye opening wide.
What appeared in Vega's deep, pitch-black eye was a head surrounded by blazing flames.
The scorching flames were almost unbelievably hot, like molten lava in gaseous form surging through the air.
And the outline of the figure formed by this head... looked... extremely familiar.
"Vi... Viktor?"
Just as the astonished voice rose, Viktor suddenly threw another mass of crimson flames from his palm.
Bang!
The flames immediately exploded, blasting apart from within the Judge's shell.
After the skeletal body flashing with scarlet light took the force of the explosion, its movements became slightly sluggish.
But this sluggishness lasted only for an instant.
Even the health bar extending into the distant sky showed not the slightest decrease.
Immediately afterward, the Judge wrapped in flesh tissue swung its long robe, and its hideous flesh crawled across the ground.
Like a beast with broken limbs, it pounced toward Viktor.
Viktor lightly jumped, his body rising into the sky once again and dodging the attack.
But the moment he stopped in midair, a glowing scythe rapidly descended from high above.
Carrying the fierce force that tore through space, it once again came toward Viktor.
Viktor, transformed into a fire element, quickly twisted his body and scattered into a sky full of flames, carrying Vega as he cleverly circled behind the Judge.
Seeing Viktor fighting the Judge so closely, Vega's entire crow was stunned.
"Why do you..."
Before it could finish, that ethereal and indifferent voice, accompanied by flames, rang out again, "Sorry for burning your butt, but you were sleeping way too deeply."
Clang!
The moment the words fell, Viktor swung his shield again, perfectly blocking a rib that burst through the cloak of the Judge.
"But..."
It wanted to say that the thing in front of them wasn't a monster at all. It was an existence that no one could defeat.
But before Vega could say even two more words, Viktor's following voice suddenly rang out, interrupting it.
"I know what you want to say, but it showed me its health bar."
"Showed... showed you its health bar?"
'What does that mean?'
Vega suddenly realized that Viktor's consciousness seemed somewhat muddled, as if he had fallen into a state of extreme exhaustion.
Even his speech seemed to have fallen into a kind of instinctive state.
This was bad. Something might have gone wrong with Viktor's mind.
Even his fighting right now seemed to be...
Using the muscle memory of instinct to keep fighting his opponent.
Seeing all this, Vega's body could not help trembling slightly as it asked Viktor, "How long... have you been fighting it?"
"Three days? Or five days? Or eight days?"
Viktor once again transformed into an element, lightly dodging the attack. His pair of blazing eyes remained fixed on the Judge.
"It doesn't matter anymore."
"Right now, I just want to defeat it immediately."
Hearing this, Vega's widened eye gradually returned to calm.
It looked at the enemy constantly launching attacks before it and fell into a daze.
Vega slowly closed its eye, feeling the sound of the surrounding space breaking apart and the crackling of the scorching flames.
As if it had made up its mind, Vega slowly opened its one eye again.
Only this time, a trace of azure blue flickered deep within Vega's dark, profound eye.
[Connection successful!]
"Buddy."
"I am willing to trust you unconditionally."
———
Hermes raised his head, his face illuminated by firelight like a baptism.
He looked at the burning supreme sky, his gaze eventually settling on Erika, whose entire body was wrapped in flames.
At this moment, Erika, whose body was completely made up of pure elements, erupted with dazzling and frightening flames like a beast.
Even the windbreaker behind her shimmered with firelight as it swayed in the breeze.
A variegated crimson reflection appeared deep within Hermes's golden eyes, and he seemed somewhat moved.
"Beautiful."
Seeing the scene before him, Aubrey put away the crimson spear in his hand and placed both hands behind his back.
He also raised his head, but his gaze fell upon the huge door where twisted machinery and flames existed together.
"Guide the gods and return them to the world."
"This is your plan?"
"No."
Hermes shook his head.
He knelt on the ground, his head tilted slightly backward as he looked at the steps above the door, layer upon layer, extending deep toward the supreme heavens.
"This is the gods' plan."
To return to the world, the gods needed more than faith.
They were sealed upon the thrones in the sky and needed someone to appear and break the divine staircase that sealed them away.
"So, we created this plan."
He looked toward the huge door again, gazing at the millions of souls being roasted by the flames inside, and slowly said, "Countless immortal new lifeforms will revive upon this ancient land of origin."
"And this is only the beginning."
At this point, his expression became like that of someone who had been freed, and he laughed.
"Even if you kill me, it will be useless. I have already done what I needed to do."
"And Viktor won't come back either."
He changed from his earlier calmness and said with a laugh, "Next will be an entirely new era."
The moment he finished speaking, Hermes's eyes suddenly widened, his face filled with anticipation.
He looked at the huge door being swallowed by flames, his heart filled with tension.
Countless flaming steps also trembled in response, stirring up flames several meters high.
A crimson mist also appeared in the center of the door.
"It worked..."
Looking at the scene before him, he could not help becoming excited.
"Our plan worked..."
But suddenly, Aubrey looked at the huge door and gave a soft laugh.
"Is that so?"
At this moment, Erika felt the windbreaker behind her suddenly rise.
As if she had sensed something, her gaze firmly locked onto the enormous mechanical door burning fiercely.
Then, within the flaming door, the hazy crimson mist began to flicker.
As orange light flowed within it, light and shadow intertwined.
The terrifying roar and waves of high-temperature heat drew everyone's attention.
They held their breath, as if some unimaginable monster would step out from within the next moment.
Suddenly, there was a "Whoosh!"
A foot stepped out from the flaming doorway.
Faint flames and crimson mist swirled around its pant leg.
Next, half of a man's body slowly emerged from within.
At that instant, Hermes's excitement instantly turned into frenzied delight.
"They're here. They're finally here!"
The man's entire body walked out from behind the door.
His burning, blazing shoulders and head wrapped in endless flames emerged from the doorway one after another, appearing before everyone's eyes.
But suddenly, the laughter of Hermes, who had widened his eyes, bared his teeth, and was ecstatic with joy, abruptly stopped.
Even the delight on his face seemed to freeze, solidifying there.
"Looks like you're not very happy to see me."
The person who walked out of the doorway spoke softly.
As the flames on his head gradually faded, Viktor's cold face emerged from the fragments of ash left behind as the fire receded.
At this moment, everyone clearly saw the man who had walked out of the doorway.
All of them suddenly widened their eyes in shock and stood frozen in place, their mouths open, yet unable to say a single word.
They could only feel the intense waves of heat striking their faces, their eyes filled with surprise and delight.
Amid the astonishment of countless people, Viktor twisted his neck, producing a crisp sound of bones shifting out of place.
Then, a black crow flapped its wings and landed steadily on his shoulder, pecking at its somewhat messy, singed feathers.
At the same time, two cold gazes shot toward Hermes.
"But we're back anyway."