Chapter 247

─ I’ve been waiting for you, Hanseong.

At that name, the warrior from another world quietly held his breath.

“Noah.”

And the warrior, too, called her name as if it were familiar.

“That you, and your ‘Ark,’ are here…”

─ Log playback initiated.

Before the hero could utter another word, the inorganic sound echoed once more from the depths of the Great Labyrinth. Simultaneously, the world beneath their feet shifted.

It was not the world of thought. It was not magic or sorcery either, merely a hologram devoid of any influence.

What unfolded there was the hero’s world of long ago.

Not the world of the empire’s hounds, but the world of the days when he was a monster hunter, risking his life to protect his own world.

After the hero vanished, what unfolded there was, quite literally, the end of the world.

Monsters that tear through the heavens and trample the earth—predators from another realm that the demons and beasts of this world dare not even compare to.

Before them, the survivors—having lost their commander-in-chief and their focal point—were painted a picture of ruin.

Heartbreaking news poured in from every nation. The survivors’ territory shrank day by day. Nations crumbled. The order, desperately maintained through a single focal point, was rapidly collapsing.

Amidst it all, people clung to the unshakable belief that Han Seong, now ‘missing,’ would return, crying out his name like a savior.

He never returned, not even at the very end.

The commander-in-chief of the death squad and the strongest monster hunter had vanished, leaving only a puppet who had become the empire’s hunting dog, dancing to their tune.

In a world that needed a true hero, a hero never appeared until the very end.

“……”

Screams echoed throughout the land.

The world had perished. And that record was being replayed without a single trace left behind.

Monsters appeared where no one expected them to reach, tearing survivors apart mercilessly.

Despite this, the number of monster hunters steadily dwindled, and they were insufficient to close the gates flooding in from all directions.

Thus, as the final hour approached, the covertly advancing plan accelerated even more rapidly.

The final ark proposed by the super-artificial intelligence ‘Noah’.

Hanseong knew of its existence too. Since the monsters first appeared, the very existence of the super-artificial intelligence ‘Noah’ had been like a goddess watching over humanity.

The entire continent was being trampled by the monsters, and the fleeing survivors were clamoring to enter the ark.

But the number of those who could enter the ark was fixed from the start.

It wasn’t about wealth or status.

Countless ages passed, and those qualified to revive the utterly devastated and collapsed earth once more.

Those worthy of entering the Ark were sent there, sealed within cryogenic chambers and plunged into an eternal slumber.

And after the Ark fell asleep, the final operation unfolded on the earth.

Project Great Flood.

It was a land of ruins, already devastated across the entire continent by dozens of nuclear weapons. While this could defeat some of the monsters, it ultimately proved insufficient.

The number of monster hunters capable of hunting them down was steadily dwindling as well.

Around that time, technology nearing the singularity gave rise to one possibility that could stand against them.

It was nanomachines.

Highly advanced nanomachines that endlessly self-replicated and multiplied.

The final operation: triggering a runaway reaction of self-replicating nanomachines to devour the entire landmass. It had already been proven that these nanomachines could even consume the very existence of the Gate and the monsters.

And within this ‘category of being swallowed,’ humans were no exception.

Except for one thing: those sleeping within the Ark.

The super-artificial intelligence Noah watched over the earth until the very end, leaving behind those who slept within the Ark.

The Gray Zone: A scenario where the entire planet is destroyed by insatiable nanomachines endlessly replicating themselves.

Monsters and Gates, and beyond that, the entire civilization built by humanity on the once-glorious Earth was being swallowed whole.

The world was stained gray.

─ Log playback has ended.

At that very moment, the woman’s voice echoed once more. Noah, the hologram in the form of a woman, remained silent.

“……”

It was then.

─ Would you like to play Log II?

Noah spoke again, and at her words, the hero silently nodded.

Once again, a world made of holograms enveloped the entire area.

The world after destruction was there.

How much time had passed? Not even decades or centuries. Not even millennia.

At the end of eons, nothing remained on the earth’s surface.

Literally, only an endless expanse of ash-gray earth stretched out.

Only then did the Ark finally touch land. Those trapped within the Ark emerged one by one onto the surface, and by then, the nanomachines devouring the earth had also fallen into an eternal silence.

That man was the leader of the group guiding the survivors of the Ark.

“I will raise the fallen world again.”

The man said.

“On this land, we shall never again tolerate any apocalypse.”

The world would end in ice. But before that, the man’s world had already met its end.

The end, the end, the end must be stopped. Therefore, the man did not hesitate to willingly become the king of the new world.

To rebuild everything upon this shattered land, and never repeat the same folly again.

He had to build an empire more powerful, greater, and more brilliantly shining than anything else.

──And the hero knew the face of that man.

The Emperor of the Empire, the Golden Sovereign.

Arthur the Great was there.

Not clad in golden armor or displaying any semblance of grandeur as he did now, but merely as one among a group of scientists, wrapped in a pure white gown.

The man, pathologically terrified of impending doom, did not hesitate to become the Golden Sovereign, obsessed with the empire.

The cruel truth no one could escape, the struggle against the shadows—the golden struggle began then.

─ Ending regeneration.

“…This world, from the very beginning.”

─ That is correct.

Before the hero could utter another word, Noah answered.

─ From the very beginning, this world has been your homeland, facing destruction and endlessly cycling through eternity.

“Then everything I fought to protect… has vanished?”

─ Yes.

Noah answered. It was an immediate response, without a moment’s hesitation.

─ After Earth’s civilization perished, the Golden Emperor created a new world. In that process, a minor error in genetic recombination created beings resembling humans, yet beings that could not be called human.

Noah continued.

─ Those who rule this earthly empire, beings that cannot be called human. Elves, monsters, and orcs are no exception.

“…….”

The hero remained silent without a word.

Kwoong!

At that very moment, a shockwave powerful enough to be felt even here in the underground labyrinth swept through. The expression on the Divine Sword Bader’s face froze.

─ Just now, the Golden Sovereign was defeated by the Shadow Sovereign.

The super-artificial intelligence Noah spoke.

“The Shadow Lord…?”

─ It is the inescapable enforcer of cruel truths that your world faced, and which the Golden Sovereign sought to confront.

Noah continued dispassionately.

─ The one who brings the end of the world alongside the ancient Mother of Darkness—that is the Shadow Lord.

“……”

─ It is he who seeks once more to extinguish the fire and light of this land, and bring forth the empire of shadows.

Hearing those words, the warrior smiled quietly.

How long had he searched? His most detestable foe was here. The moment he heard those words, his mind grew strangely cold.

─ I did everything I could to stand against her. That is why I waited for you—for you to finally come here of your own will.

Noah said.

─ And I, long ago, abandoned the name Noah. And I was engaged in a new struggle on this earth, facing the Shadow Goddess, the ancient Mother of Darkness.

“Then what is your new name?”

─ Sistina.

Noah, and Sistina, the goddess of benevolence and mercy, answered.

An existence who loved humanity from birth and devoted her wisdom to saving them. When one world perished and another was born, she too continued her own battle.

The goddess of mercy and compassion, Sistina, never fell silent.

Exercising her influence from the deepest depths of this underground.

─ It is time for you to come out with me now.

Cistina said.

─ Come with me to the surface and become the new ‘Golden Sovereign’ in place of the fallen one.

“Golden Sovereign.”

─ It is to accomplish in this world what we failed to achieve in the previous one.

Sistina said, and before her, the divine sword Bader quietly knelt.

─ Do not let this world end in ice. Do not let this world be devoured by shadows.

The hero of another world—no, that man was no longer even a hero of another world.

He was simply the hero who failed to save the world until the very end.

And now it was time to complete the task he had failed to accomplish.

Another holy war had begun.

The Golden Sovereign had fallen. Leaving the fallen man’s corpse behind, the Shadow Sovereign surveyed the surroundings.

─ Ah, as expected. I knew it. Truly, the human species is magnificent!

Beside Dale, the ancient Mother of Darkness smiled softly.

“Is this the end?”

Dale asked again. The ancient Mother of Darkness did not answer. She merely maintained a silent, meaningful smile.

“Is this truly the end?”

Only shouts of victory echoed through the air.

Defeated, the imperial army knelt in unison, while the army led by the Shadow Lord began to shout in triumph.

The final war had concluded. What that meant was there would be no more war.

The Shadow Lord proved in this war a power none dared defy. Even if he does not covet an empire, no nation on this continent will dare oppose Saxony again.

Therefore, nothing changed.

Only the Shadow Empire existed on this continent, and the new ruler standing at its pinnacle had proven himself before all.

For no one dared face the Shadow Titan.

“Lord Jet-Black.”

At that very moment, Lord Helmut called out Dale’s name.

“Speak.”

“Reports indicate that the Crimson Ball, the Celestial Sword, Lady Scarlet, and some members of the Imperial faction have withdrawn from the battlefield.”

“It is impossible to pursue them with a single pursuit squad. Cease the pursuit.”

“I will obey your orders.”

Lord Helmut bowed his head, and Dale turned away. The war was over. Yet, strangely, a vast emptiness gaped within his heart.

It was immediately after this that the lands of the Demon King’s Realm began to tremble.