After the cataclysmic battle between Yagami, the legendary swordsman Kurojin, and Nyx, the Angel of Death, nearly 80% of the city had been reduced to rubble.
The despairing survivors raised their eyes to the sky and whispered:
"We can't even handle an S-rank… how are we supposed to defeat these monsters? There's no hope left of ever going home…"
Amid the chaos, the leader of the Godly Swordsmen guild—whose power had been devoured by Yagami—still lay unconscious, breathing faintly in silence.
But the greater tragedy belonged to the Yakuza guild leader.
When Yagami's colossal fireball had struck the city, he had been directly beneath it.
Nothing remained—no body, not even ash.
He had been utterly obliterated.
Among the ruins, the leader of the Demonic Mages guild lay in a coma, while half his members were dead.
Of all the guilds, only the Black Clover Guild remained intact.
Shinkuro, the powerful leader of the Black Clovers, stepped forward and asked a wounded man with a grave expression:
"What happened here?"
The man, voice trembling with shock:
"This was a battle between three monsters… I don't know how I'm still alive…"
He looked at Shinkuro and asked:
"Where did you come from?"
Shinkuro replied calmly:
"I came down from Floor 56."
The man's eyes widened:
"Then… you were incredibly lucky to be up there!"
Shinkuro surveyed the devastation: a crater the size of a meteor strike, the stench of blood and ash…
With a heavy voice:
"This place… truly was hell."
He turned back to the man:
"What were the other guilds doing? How did we suffer so many losses?"
The man, face caked in dust, eyes filled with despair:
"There are… no guilds left."
Shinkuro's eyes widened in shock:
"What did you say?! What do you mean no guilds are left? Explain!"
But before he could get an answer, the man gave a bitter smile…
drew his sword, and plunged it into his own chest.
Blood sprayed across the ground as he collapsed with his final breath.
Shinkuro stepped back, hands trembling, whispering:
"What… what happened here…?"
Top Floor:
Deep in the darkest abyss, Nyx was chained, body covered in wounds, blood flowing freely. She had not a shred of energy left even to heal herself.
In the eerie silence of the void, footsteps echoed.
Kurojin approached, saw the chains, glanced at Tartarus, and said gravely:
"You were a goddess… now you're imprisoned here by a demon. How did you fall so far?"
Nyx lifted her head with difficulty. Her gaze was cold and empty.
Voice hoarse:
"Goddess?! Hahaha…"
Her breath shook as she continued:
"I only punished a traitor… but they… they
cast me out of heaven themselves. The gods exiled me."
Kurojin remained silent.
Nyx smiled bitterly:
"Nyx no longer exists…
I am now Tartarus… the absolute darkness they all fear…"
Tartarus spoke in a muffled voice:
"I was the strongest among all the gods… the most talented of them all…
But they never valued me. So I'll become a nightmare for everyone who rejected me.
But now there's someone stronger than me… that's what infuriates me.
I don't have the talent to defeat that bastard Yagami.
I don't even have the talent to steal others' power like he does."
Kurojin, who had listened quietly, finally spoke:
"It's not all about talent. Sometimes it's just relentless effort that creates miracles."
Tartarus:
"No, it's not like that."
Kurojin shouted:
"Yes, it is!
Where do you think I got this power?
Do you think this is some divine gift? Talent alone achieves nothing."
He stared into the abyss and continued:
"There are stronger people out there… like Yagami and Hades.
I believe he's still alive… still growing stronger."
His eyes flashed:
"I used to think like you. I thought I was the strongest…
But that arrogance was exactly what took my family from me…"
Kurojin stepped forward, drew his sword, and severed Tartarus's chains in one clean strike.
"Your punishment is over. The Lord says we must go to him."
At the same time, he healed her wounds with his magic.
Tartarus stared in astonishment… perhaps the first time she had seen someone as unyielding as Kurojin.
Kurojin turned away:
"Go… put on proper clothes. We need to move quickly."
Meanwhile, deep within the Goblin Thousand-To, Yagami walked in heavy silence.
He had now entered the chamber of the Goblin Thousand-To Lord… "Gruksh".
A massive green goblin with gleaming yellow eyes sat devouring raw flesh from some unknown creature.
Yagami entered with an emotionless face and deadly calm, saying nothing.
The sound of his footsteps echoed across the stone floor.
Gruksh paused mid-bite, long ears twitching, and turned his head.
A heavy silence fell…
Yagami stood motionless. His soulless eyes glowed in the darkness.
No trace of fear or excitement on his face; as if he faced death itself and no longer cared.
Gruksh let out a guttural, savage laugh.
But Yagami remained silent… ready for battle.