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――――――!

The goddess's thunderbolt, devouring even sound itself, swept through everything.

Amidst the storm of blue plasma discharge—

Vinesha, weak to lightning, let out an involuntary scream and collapsed to the ground.

We, however, remained unscathed by the storm of plasma.

Of course, that was only because the one above had taken the full brunt of it in our stead.

[ What the hell… ]

Barcavaran gaped at me in disbelief, astounded by the absurdity of my actions.

He still didn’t fully understand me.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a massive skeletal hand burst through the smoke in the sky.

It was an enormous hand, far larger than the buildings of Zerion Academy.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Simultaneously, a single eye embedded in the skeletal hand slowly opened.

A chill ran down my spine.

It was just a hand.

Yet the overwhelming presence radiating from that single hand was immense beyond reason.

A calamity beyond human opposition—

The Abomination.

Together with the Demon Sovereign, the Abomination of the Otherworld were a force to be reckoned with.

But even this was only a fragment of the Abomination.

Its true form was too vast for even the Otherworld to contain.

Just as the Demon Sovereign could not escape the Demon Palace, the Abominations were similarly trapped in the Otherworld.

The only way they could escape was by establishing a conduit to reality.

For the Demon Sovereign, that conduit was Iris.

For the Abominations, it was Musika and Grantoni.

Fury burned within the eye that had opened.

A lightning bolt had suddenly struck within its domain.

Naturally, it wanted nothing more than to kill the one responsible.

So I raised my Lightning Caller toward the sky.

“You’re here?”

Light once again began to gather around the Lightning Caller in my hand.

“Then take another one.”

It wouldn’t be fair to give just one, after all.

Come forth once more, Lightning Caller.

Answering my call, the goddess’s thunderbolt pierced the heavens and struck down once more.

The skeletal arm of the Abomination, engulfed in the storm of lightning, burned white-hot.

The Abomination raged even more furiously.

Even after taking two direct hits from Lightning Caller, it remained unscathed.

A true monster.

[ I knew you were insane when you asked for the Lightning Caller, but this confirms it! ]

“It’s a power I can use without consequence—why wouldn’t I?”

[ I told you before what happens when you use it 108 times! ]

“I’m still far from that number.”

I had to use it as much as I could while I still could.

Clack!

At that moment, Sharin arrived before me with Grantoni in tow.

Thanks to her barrier magic and the Abomination’s focus elsewhere, she appeared unharmed.

Grantoni, however, was not.

His eyes, which should have been glowing brilliantly, were now completely lifeless.

“Hannon, this…”

Sharin furrowed her brows.

She, too, had noticed that something was wrong.

“Vinesha.”

I quickly called for Vinesha.

Still trembling from the lightning, she carefully examined Grantoni.

A frown formed on her face.

Vinesha was both a soul sorceress and a spirit mage.

She had mastered two different disciplines, an exceptionally rare trait.

This unique skill set was precisely why Zerion Academy had recruited her as an assistant professor, believing she could help foster the students’ growth.

When it came to soul magic, Vinesha was a specialist.

“The soul that should be inside him… it’s gone.”

Her words were final.

Grantoni’s soul—where had it gone?

The answer was obvious from the beginning.

‘To retrieve Musika from the Abomination, he had to enter its spiritual realm.’

For the sake of his first love, he had willingly walked into danger.

Vinesha stared blankly at Grantoni, as if something about him was bothering her.

“We need to get out of here.”

Now was not the time to dwell on it.

The Abomination was recovering from the lightning and was moving to pursue us.

If it caught us, it would mean certain death—no exceptions.

“Sharin!”

“I’m already on it.”

As soon as I called her name, Sharin activated her magic.

In an instant, our bodies lifted off the ground and accelerated forward.

“This is slower than usual.”

Sharin frowned in irritation.

“The laws of magic work differently in the Otherworld!”

Magic was the art of deceiving the world.

Sharin, accustomed to casting magic in the real world, was unable to exert her full power here.

That was why I had brought Vinesha.

Her magic could function even in the Otherworld.

‘It’s coming.’

Rumble…!

Then, from within the depths of the forest, spirits began to rise one by one.

Souls that had remained hidden within the trees slowly stood up.

Clatter—

A chilling sound echoed as countless spectral eyes turned toward us.

Souls whose wills had been stripped away by the Abomination, leaving behind only empty husks.

They gathered to block our escape.

Like amorphous, black liquid, they surged toward us.

I had no intention of letting them slow us down.

“Vinesha.”

“Ah!”

Snapping out of her daze, Vinesha swiftly moved her hand.

In that instant, the fiend that had been hovering behind her swung its arm.

Its scythe-like limb slashed through the air—

And the spirits in our path were shredded into countless fragments.

Meanwhile, the Abomination was closing in on us at an alarming speed.

Without hesitation, I activated Lightning Caller once more.

Boom!

The Abomination’s massive arm quivered violently as another bolt struck it.

“Are you sure you can keep using that?”

Sharin asked, concern evident in her voice.

I gripped the ring tightly.

“This is life or death—I have to use it. But I’m reaching my limit.”

Even summoning lightning strikes isn’t something I can do infinitely.

From what I’ve tested so far, five times a day is the maximum.

That means I have two uses left.

“So, we need to put as much distance as possible while we can.”

“I’m accelerating. I’m getting used to this.”

Already adapting to the Otherworld?

As expected, a once-in-a-millennium talent was truly extraordinary.

“Eve.”

I hurriedly called out to Eve.

She was still clutching my hand tightly, eyes closed.

“We need a guiding light to bring Grantoni back.”

A soul entering the spirit realm is like a ship lost at sea.

And without the light of a lighthouse, a ship can never find its way back.

This role originally belonged to Lucas.

His Flames of Resolve were bright enough to act as a beacon for Grantoni.

But Lucas wasn’t here.

That’s why I called Eve.

“Understood.”

Eve, struggling to regain her composure amid fear, drew her sword.

As she did, fierce blue flames erupted from her blade.

A fire so intense that Grantoni’s soul would surely see it.

But more important than that was Grantoni’s own will to return.

‘Grantoni.’

He risked his life to enter the Otherworld.

There’s no way he would return without achieving his goal.

There was only one way to bring him back—

He had to meet his first love, Musika, and realize for himself that he could not save her.

‘In the original scenario, the Abomination would be blinded by the Flame of Resolve for just a brief moment.’

And in that moment, Grantoni would meet Musika.

He would desperately try to take her away with him.

But despite his efforts, he would fail.

Instead, Musika would convince him.

She would tell him that it was okay and ask him to let go of her.

In the end, unable to go against Musika’s wishes, Grantoni would comply.

Then, guided by the Flame of Resolve, he would return to his body.

That was how Grantoni would leave the Otherworld,

only to spend the rest of his life longing for Musika, meeting a lonely end.

‘Only one person can persuade Grantoni—Musika.’

And to reach Musika, we needed the Flame of Resolve.

Not even Eve’s unyielding azure flames could replace that.

We couldn’t leave the Otherworld until Grantoni returned.

If we tried, the link between his body and soul would sever, and that would be the end.

So all we could do was hope that Grantoni would evade the Abomination and return safely.

‘If all I could do was wait…’

I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.

“Vinesha.”

I called the card I had prepared to save Grantoni.

Hearing my voice, Vinesha, who had been staring at Grantoni, turned to me.

For the first time, her gaze wavered.

A clear sign of emotional turmoil triggered by seeing Grantoni.

Vinesha had lost her memories after being used by the Abomination—

The core of her recollections was destroyed.

But that only applied to the memories in her brain.

The memories engraved in her soul were a different story.

Memories are imprinted on the soul.

This was proven by one of the six past reincarnators—

Saint Acrede Saint Narea.

Vinesha’s memories stored in her brain had been completely destroyed by the Abomination.

However, the memories within her soul remained intact.

She had merely buried them deep within, refusing to face them.

But those memories still existed, hidden in the depths of her soul.

In reality, Vinesha didn’t remember Grantoni at all.

That’s why she had cast him aside so indifferently when he came looking for her.

But the Otherworld was different.

It was a realm where the power of the soul was at its peak.

‘Lucas never brought Vinesha into the Otherworld before.’

Her role was simply to assist Lucas in entering the Otherworld.

She had no reason to follow him inside.

To Lucas, Vinesha was a criminal.

To Vinesha, Lucas was an obstacle to her work.

But my situation with her was entirely different.

I had built a relationship with her to obtain the Veil’s Bandages and the Pendant.

Vinesha had followed me into the Otherworld to help me.

That was why, now—

Upon seeing Grantoni, the memories engraved in her soul had begun to awaken.

“You have lost memories. And they might be horrifying.”

Memories of the day she killed both her mentor and her junior with her own hands.

I was about to force Vinesha to recall those moments.

I couldn’t guarantee that remembering would be good for her.

That day’s memories were probably the most painful ones she had.

But to save Grantoni, we needed Vinesha’s memories.

Vinesha had personally delivered Musika to the Abomination.

And through Vinesha, the Abomination had interfered with reality.

This meant that Vinesha and Musika were connected in ways neither of them knew.

Vinesha could summon Musika.

And Musika could summon Grantoni.

For this to work, Vinesha had to remember that day.

Only then could she retrace her steps and bring Musika back.

I had no idea what would happen as a result of this.

This was my first time experiencing this world, after all.

But that’s how life is.

Everything is always a first.

Mistakes are okay.

If I make a mistake, I’ll fix it myself.

That’s why I’m here now.

“My husband.”

At that moment, Vinesha called out to me again.

But this time, instead of a dazed expression, she wore a gentle smile.

“It’s okay. I don’t know what I’ve been through, but as long as my husband is with me, I can move forward.”

Vinesha knew she had gaps in her memory.

But she had avoided confronting them, fearing what she might find.

Yet, because I was here, she had decided to face them.

It had only been a week.

I still didn’t fully understand how deeply I had become a part of her life.

But she trusted me.

And I was determined to live up to that trust.

“Open the pendant.”

Vinesha unclasped the pendant around her neck.

Inside was a single photograph.

Vinesha saw herself in the photo, alongside three other figures.

And for the first time, her eyes slowly widened.

This reaction was completely different from before.

Fragments of memory began to surge from within her soul.

“Ah…”

A trembling gasp escaped Vinesha’s lips.

[ Hey, look at that. ]

Just then, I heard Barcavaran’s voice.

I quickly lifted my head—

And found myself speechless.

The sky.

The sky was collapsing.

The Abomination—

That lunatic had destroyed the sky of the Otherworld.

KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GANG!

As the sky crumbled like a waterfall,

I instinctively moved to shield Grantoni.

“Everyone, prepare yourselves!”

With that cry, we were swallowed by the falling sky.