The sky of Fourth Epoch Trier was a bruised, pulsating red, illuminated by the "Invisible Sea of Fire" that raged conceptual storms above.
Standing in the center of the ruins of the Pillar Square, the trapped Heroes and Djinns—once bitter enemies on Earth—were unified by a singular, primal terror.
Before them stood Vermonda Sauron.
The Calamity Giant was a fifty-meter-tall nightmare of charred metal and purple flames.
Every step 'He' took caused the "Spatial Lag" of the city to shudder, resetting the cobblestones into a state of permanent decay.
"Hold the line!" Shin Jonghak roared, his Conqueror Spear crackling with iron-black lightning.
Beside him, a high-rank Djinn of the "Bliss Society" spat blood, his own demonic energy being sucked into the giant's aura.
"You think I'll take orders from a brat?!"
The battle was a cacophony of divine violence.
Jung Heewon unleashed her Chaos attribute, but the flames of the Star Stream clashed awkwardly with the "Weather" logic of the Red Priest pathway.
The giant exhaled a mist of hail and lightning that froze the air itself.
Suddenly, a translucent figure in blood-stained black armor manifested behind Jonghak.
"You're using the spear like a toothpick, kid," Medici's voice echoed from three mouths simultaneously. "The Red Priest pathway doesn't ask for permission. It conquers the environment."
Medici didn't wait for a reply.
He plunged his spirit-form into the ground.
A pillar of purple fire erupted beneath Vermonda Sauron, destabilizing the giant's iron-black skeleton.
"NOW!" Medici commanded.
Shin Jonghak, Rachel, and the combined forces of the Djinns and Heroes struck as one.
A mass of high-rank magic, elemental spirits, and demonic curses slammed into the giant's core.
The impact was so great it tore a hole through the corrupted fog that naked a towering figure of a tree in the distance.
With a final, earth-shaking roar, Vermonda Sauron shattered.
As the Calamity Giant dissolved, the iron-colored motes of its Story were not reclaimed by the Star Stream.
They were violently pulled toward Medici.
The Red Angel's form solidified.
His long red hair flared like a sun, and the banner-flag mark on his forehead burned with the intensity of a dying star.
['King of Angels' has reclaimed his throne!]
[Story 'The General of the Crimson Hell' has attained Mythic status!]
Medici smirked, his presence now so heavy that the surrounding Beyonders were forced to their knees.
But the celebration was cut short.
The air in Trier groaned.
The borders of the Demon Realm, already thinned, finally tore open.
A man in a tattered, elegant tuxedo stepped through the rift.
His eyes were pits of golden greed, looking at the city as if it were a jewel to be pocketed.
There was something strange with him...
His left arm was missing and a big scar of charred skin stretched upon his dark face.
It's like someone had injured him before he could come to Star Stream.
Rachel knew exactly who did that.
Vassago.
The 3rd Devil.
Collector of Artifacts.
"What a fascinating collection of souls," Vassago murmured, his presence causing the nearby buildings to liquefy into ink.
Beside him manifested a figure of absolute, crushing order.
He wore the armor of an Inquisitor, but his face was a blank, white porcelain mask.
He was the sponsored incarnation of the 4th Demon King: The Devil of Principles.
"Disorder detected," the Devil of Principles droned. "Correction is mandatory."
The Demon King and Devil attacked.
Vassago snapped his fingers, and conceptual "Questions" dived into the minds of the heroes, forcing them to relive their failures.
The Devil of Principles raised his hand, and Shin Jonghak felt his physical stats being restricted—his moon slashes were being "Deleted" by the Giant Story or Attribute of the Demon King.
Official Beyonders—Saint Viève and the remaining Purifiers—broke through the "Rooms" of the Hostel painting to assist.
"For the Sun!" Saint Viève cried, her holy light clashing with the Abyssal energy.
But then, the atmosphere turned cold.
A mercury-like liquid began to seep from the cracks in space-time.
A figure emerged—a Three-headed, Three-bodied, Six-Armed Giant, four meters tall.
Termiboros.
The Sequence 1 Angel of Redemption.
[The Skill 'Predestined Fate' is active!]
"Your victory," Termiboros whispered in a voice of clicking clocks, "is not within the current tributary of fate."
He used [Fate Appropriation].
He reached out and literally snatched the "Outcome of Survival" from a group of official Beyonders. They dropped dead instantly, their hearts turning to mottled red rust as the logic of Inevitability forced their blood to stop flowing.
Even Medici, a King of Angels, was struggling.
He swung a sword of purple fire, but Termiboros simply [Exchanged] the fate of the attack, making the flames burn Medici instead.(Though, it wasn't of much effect on 'Him')
"Rachel! Get back!" Jonghak roared, his Intermittent Explosive Disorder physique beginning to sizzle. His muscles bulged, veins appearing on his neck like angry serpents. The rage in his chest was a physical heat that resisted the Demon King's order.
[Constellation 'The Devil of Principles' is roaring!]
Arm of the Fourth Demon King fell to the ground.
[Hour of Judgment is activated!]
Shin Jonghak smiled.
"Judge of Apocalypse. Haven't seen that in a while."
Ring of Chaos appeared in her irises.
"Focus," Jung Heewon enveloped herself in white flames shielding heroes from the beam of demonic energy.
If not for the need to protect others from Demon King, Jung Heewon would easily kill 4th Demon King.
From the shadows of the alleyways, the members of the Bliss Society and the School of God's Descent emerged, their eyes glowing with high-dimensional ink. Among them stood Alex Lancaster, his gaze fixed on Rachel with a terrifying, obsessive hunger.
"Rachel... come to the Tree," Lancaster whispered. "Save the family... by becoming the root."
The pressure was mounting.
Even Medici, now a King of Angels, was struggling. He swung a sword of purple fire, but the Devil of Principles simply deleted the heat from the air.
"Haa... haa..." Shin Jonghak spat out blood. He looked at Rachel, who was pale, her elementals dying in the toxic vapor of Vassago.
Termiboros began to draw a ritual circle in the air, using the "Rooms" of the Hostel ritual to anchor the Circle of Inevitability directly into Paris.
If he succeeded, the Outer Deity would no longer need to break through the Astral Barrier.
Medici spit out a mouthful of silver-black blood.
"Termiboros... you parasitic worm. You think I'll let you hijack my war?"
"Your war ended two millennia ago, Red Angel," Termiboros replied, his voice a drone of a million clicking clocks.
Suddenly, the pressure changed.
It wasn't the weight of a God or a Constellation.
It was the weight of a Human.
Pure Human Will.
A sheer, absolute pressure of mana exploded from the center of the city, radiating from the direction of the Catacombs.
It was a pressure so vast it physically shoved the Demon King back.
The "Questions" of Vassago were incinerated; the "Principles" of the 4th King were overwritten by a higher magical Truth.
A man stepped out of the gray fog.
He looked ancient, his bald head sparkling.
[Constellation 'Bald General of Justice' feels insecure!]
He held a simple wooden staff that seemed to hold the weight of the entire Magic Tower.
Oh Jaejin.
The only 10-Star Mage in human history.
One of Nine Stars.
"I went for a walk," the old man whispered, his voice echoing like a thunderclap. "And I find my home being painted over by monsters."
Oh Jaejin didn't use a chant.
[10-Star Absolute Arcana – 'The Star-Fall of Reason']
A cascade of white-gold geometric mana slammed into the battlefield.
The Devil of Principles was blown back, his "Laws" shattered by a higher logic.
Vassago shrieked as his tuxedo was shredded by the sheer density of the mana.
Termiboros's mercury form rippled in terror.
"I will return," Termiboros hissed.
'He' decided to flee.
'He' transformed into a stream of starlight, heading for the exit of the scenario.
But 'He' hit a wall.
Not a wall of stone, but a wall of brownish-green wood.
Powers of Fate clashed with Desire.
The Tree of Shadows, reaching deep into the catacombs, had sensed the massive influx of mana from Oh Jaejin.
It had reacted by "Clinching" the entire sector.
Its roots had woven a conceptual cage around the entire scenario, feeding on the "Desire for Escape" that Termiboros had just manifested.
"No..." Termiboros whispered, his liquid form rippling in shock.
The battle for the Sunken Epoch had only just begun.