An imitation of the Tower of Heroes using the Abyss of Demons...? Meirin’s radical claim left everyone visibly startled.

Se-Hoon, too, had to think about her words briefly before asking for more clarification, “Why do you propose so?”

“It’s still only a hypothesis... but I have two reasons that led to it.”

Meirin pulled a lollipop out of her pocket, popped it into her mouth, then pointed at the footage floating in the air.

“First, the timing of when that barrier hemisphere appeared. It’s powerful enough to subdue Dean Ryu and Aria Myers in an instant, yet he pulled it out way too late.”

It would be one thing if Tuner had shown signs of preparing it—making an offering, paying a price, anything—but it had activated abruptly without even the slightest warning.

“There is the chance he could’ve been trying to conserve his trump card and only used it when forced. Or there might be a condition we don’t know about. If it’s the former, then it just means he’s an idiot. If it’s the latter... there’s something we can connect it to.”

Without her needing to explain further, Se-Hoon realized what she meant.

“The sky... huh.”

The moment the rupture in the heavens occurred, likely caused when he sealed the Void with the Aeon Sphere. The timings coinciding made Se-Hoon turn to Erika.

“Erika. Can you also show us what happened back then?”

“Yes.”

Swish-

Erika’s shadow surged upward and transformed into a circular mirror. A beat later, the events in the Abyss of Demons began playing from her perspective.

VROOM!

The swampy mud of the Abyss of Demons erupted like an explosion at Tuner’s gesture, and from within it, millions of monsters moved together as one and cascaded forth. It was a living tidal wave, ready to shred and devour everything in its path.

At that moment, just as it surged toward them, Aria and Eun-Ha—standing at the very front—moved simultaneously.

Clang!

A flash of gold shone, then the massive tide was chopped into fragments. A crimson flare crashed down, evaporating the wave. With just a single slash from Aria and a punch from Eun-Ha in succession, Tuner’s attack had been pulverized to the point it didn’t leave a single trace.

He really was getting overwhelmed.

Tuner had twisted the Abyss using all sorts of bizarre spells, but none of it mattered before those two. In the end, he gave up the fight and started fleeing.

That pursuit would have continued on, if not for the strange event that occurred in the sky.

CRACK!

A massive rift split through the miasma-tainted heavens as if someone had seized the painting that was the world and torn it apart with brute force. The sky had been shredded into miserable fragments—revealing an endless darkness beyond.

And when everyone’s eyes instinctively lifted toward that alien sight, a cascade of multicolored light erupted around Tuner.

“So it really appeared without any warning.”

“Looks like it affected the surroundings too.”

Seeing Jake and Erika unable to react despite seeing the hemisphere forming, Sung-Ha and Amir frowned. It was an unnatural response considering those two.

Whoosh!

In contrast, Aria and Eun-Ha still moved like lightning. The two hurled Jake and Erika outward right as the light was sealed into the hemispherical shell—and vanished along with Tuner.

At that point, the shadows showing Erika’s memories froze.

“That’s all.”

Ruminating over what he had just seen, Se-Hoon nodded.

“It is too perfect to be a coincidence.”

As Meirin said, there was no precursor at all. It was so much so that it didn’t even look like Tuner knew exactly when it would trigger. Otherwise, he would have pushed a little deeper and trapped Jake and Erika too. The distance was simply that razor thin.

He couldn’t have let them go on purpose, not when he would have used them as hostages.... Was it prepared in advance as one of his insurances?

If he’d set it up to generate when the Garden of Void was destroyed—or when some other condition was met—his behavior would make a certain amount of sense. Depending on an unpredictable hemisphere alone would’ve been suicidal in his situation.

Or maybe it failed because those two were simply too strong?

Organizing his thoughts, Se-Hoon asked, “And your other reason?”

“Tuner interfered with the Towers’ system. That’s the biggest one, really.”

Considering that Tuner had interfered with the Towers’ system from inside the Abyss of Demons without question, the only explanation was that he possessed something related to it.

I guess what remains now is the hemisphere’s exact purpose... which is probably a method for becoming a new transcendent being, like the Demon King said.

Assuming that Tuner’s true goal was to become a transcendent who wasn’t bound to the world, he couldn’t have used the Towers nor the Abyss as-is. That left him to carve out a new, mixed path, which aligned with the experiments he’d shown so far to a certain degree.

“I think...”

Once she heard Se-Hoon summarize his inference, Meirin’s expression turned amused.

“The source is a little questionable, but for now, it’s the most plausible guess.”

She glanced at the hemisphere shown in the footage and mirror, then looked back at Se-Hoon.

“So what will you do about Tuner’s proposal?”

To be honest, Se-Hoon was still struggling to decide between accepting the one-on-one fight or going to full-scale war, leaving him unable to answer.

Thus, Erika ended up suggesting an answer first.

“I believe we should accept. In this situation, refusing is riskier.”

“Isn’t walking into his prepared trap even riskier?” Jake objected, displeased.

Erika shook her head.

“From the moment things started moving the way Tuner wanted, we were already caught in a trap. Now we should think about which choice minimizes damage and which is easier to respond to.”

“Mm... fair.”

“Most importantly, I believe regressing repeatedly is a bad idea.”

Compared to stepping into an unknown hemisphere, repeatedly regressing was definitely more dangerous.

Thinking the same, Sung-Ha and Luize both nodded at that.

“Even if we all fight together, we might just get in the way in our current state.”

“With Terra, rear support will be easier to handle too. I think this is the right call for now.”

Agreeing one by one, the group leaned closer and closer toward accepting—

“I disagree,” Amir cut in, his voice firm.

“What?”

“Repeating regressions only happens if Tuner does kill us. There’s no need to dance to his tune over something that hasn’t even happened yet.”

Whether Tuner could nullify the Blessing of the Eternal or not, there was no reason to panic prematurely.

Technically, Amir was right, which was why Se-Hoon made a complicated expression.

“You’re not wrong, but...”

“And if he truly has the power to nullify Blessings and powers, then we especially shouldn’t accept. If we misstep even once...”

“He could nullify your regression and kill you for good,” Meirin finished, staring at Se-Hoon with serious eyes. “If, as the Demon King said, the battle data from the Forest of Repetition reached Tuner, there’s a good chance he’s prepared countermeasures against regression.”

“...”

“Of course you won’t go down easily. Still, if there’s even a 0.01 percent chance you die, you need to think carefully.”

She pulled the lollipop out of her mouth.

“Humanity’s victory and its future... all of it depends on you.”

It didn’t matter if someone else died—Se-Hoon could never. That implied understanding made everyone fall into silence, tacitly agreeing.

This is tough...

Se-Hoon frowned, rubbing his temple.

He’d roughly grasped Tuner’s goal and method, but not how it would play out in detail, making the choice difficult. Also, with Eun-Ha and Aria in mind, time wasn’t on their side.

All he could do right now, though, was keep thinking and thinking... until he abruptly remembered something.

“Terra. What do you think?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yeah. We haven’t heard your opinion.”

“Umm... I was just going to go with whatever you choose, Administrator...”

“Not that. Tell me your honest opinion.”

“Uh... hmm...”

Not expecting to be asked, Terra was silent for a long time before carefully saying, “What if... Regression itself is the objective?”

“Regression is the objective?”

“The one-on-one proposal, the threats using everyone’s lives... it feels like he’s trying to steer you into a situation where you have to use regression.”

“...”

“Like the proposal and threats are misdirection, and regression itself has some other purpose.... That thought... just came to me...”

The silence of the workshop made Terra grow quieter and quieter until she hurriedly added, “My claim has no definitive proof, so you can just ignore it...!”

“No. You’re right.”

“Huh?”

“The benefits he can gain from regression—my first thought should have been that.”

Whether it was a duel or total war, the Tuner had no actual path to victory so long as Se-Hoon could overturn outcomes through regression. In that case, if Tuner was aiming for a miracle-like win, the only place it could exist was regression itself.

“There’s nothing left to think about.”

Everything clicking, Se-Hoon grasped what the Tuner was aiming for—and what strategy would counter it. He looked around at everyone.

“Let’s flip the table properly.”

He showed a smile as ominous as could be.

And he smiled—an .

***

“Coming... not coming... coming... not coming... hmm~ hmm~ hmmmmm~”

In his characteristic beaked mask, Tuner was plucking the petals off a gigantic man-eating flower one by one. It was screaming as each of its petals was torn away, but Tuner just continued casually until only one petal remained.

SHRIEEEEEK!

“So... he’s coming, then~”

The hemisphere rippling with iridescent colors behind him, Tuner, standing in front of it as if guarding it, paused with his hand on the last petal. The result after hundreds of petals torn away was one that satisfied him greatly.

Splurt!

And so he clenched the head of the trembling flower in his fist before it could even scream and crushed it into a black mud. Through the gaps in his grip, it seeped out to blanket the still squirming corpse.

Yet as he released his grip, the man-eating flower with hundreds of petals was coming back to life.

SHRIEEEEEK!

“Mhmmm.”

Seeing the plant writhing in desire to bite his head off, Tuner smiled in satisfaction and reached to pluck petals again—

“Are the preparations complete?”

A black shadow that had risen from the Abyss was looking up at him: the Elder Lord.

“There is not much time left.”

At the voice devoid of emotion, Tuner glanced down at the eerie demon without even facial features and simply shrugged.

“I’ve done everything I can. That’s why I’m killing time like this.”

Creak!

With that, Tuner went back to plucking petals out of boredom.

“Are you uncertain how he will respond?” the Elder Lord asked blandly.

“He could pick either option. If I’d trapped the other three too, it would’ve been guaranteed... tsk.”

Remembering the prey he’d missed because of Eun-Ha and Aria, Tuner clicked his tongue and yanked petals in rapid succession.

“Haven’t those two grown too fast? Even if they succeeded in ascension, they would need time to adapt.”

“They were together with him. Influence is inevitable.”

“Even so, this is too much... Hmm.. Was it because of Lee Se-Hoon’s unique skill?”

Tuner started thinking. He’d discovered that Se-Hoon was a regressor, but he still didn’t have a clear grasp on Se-Hoon’s unique skill. Se-Hoon’s talents and abilities were simply too varied, making it difficult to narrow down.

It’s definitely related to the human soul, but I can’t even guess how he manipulates it.

Absorption, division, amplification—countless methods of soul manipulation came to mind, but Tuner shook his head at all of them. He was certain Se-Hoon’s unique skill wasn’t some common, banal type.

If only I had more battle data from the Forest of Repetition.... Sighhhhh, I could’ve figured it out somehow. That bastard was incompetent to the end.

Falling into silence, Tuner tore more and more petals while lamenting over the insufficient data he’d received from Beast King, Test Subject L-105—

“There’s only one thing remaining now.”

The Elder Lord, who had been silently watching, had spoken again.

“I wonder if your will shall be fulfilled.”

Swish-

The Elder Lord’s shadow dissolved into the Abyss, dispersing like ink in water.

Tuner glanced at the now empty area, then snickered with a shake of his head.

“Trying to act all weighty when you’re also just a puppet...”

He returned his attention to the flower, only to realize that a mere two petals remained.

Next is he’s not coming, so... he’s coming? Or...?

The petals gave him consecutive results. Maybe that was reliable enough? Wondering such, he reached toward the remaining petals—

“...!”

Tuner immediately looked up, feeling a crushing presence from above, and found Se-Hoon standing alone in midair.

“You’re alone? That’s perfect—”

“What’s the name of the hemisphere behind you?”

The question made Tuner flinch before staring at Se-Hoon with a questioning look.

“Why the sudden interest?”

“It’s the thing that’s going to create a new transcendent being. I figured I should at least know its name.”

“...”

His plan was seen though... Tuner fell silent for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

“Did you learn that from regressing too?”

“No. I heard it from the Demon King... Beast King.”

“That fucking mutt... tch.”

Cursing Beast King, Tuner just accepted that there was no point in hiding it anymore.

“Hiranyagarbha. If it’s too hard to pronounce, just call it the Golden Egg.”

Se-Hoon looked at the hemisphere behind him—Hiranyagarbha—and said calmly, “The Hiranyagarbha... is still incomplete, isn’t it?”

“...” 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“You finished the framework: using the Abyss to imitate the Tower, breaking the Golden Ring’s shackles. But. You still don’t know if it’ll actually succeed. And you don’t have the time or opportunity to test it.”

Se-Hoon shifted his gaze back to Tuner and smiled slightly.

“So you decided to use me. To make use of regression.”

Tuner had some way to detect when regression was triggered. So, by observing the number of regressions and Se-Hoon’s responses, he could infer experimental results from previous loops and activate Hiraṇyagarbha accordingly.

“The clean defeat, the hostage threats—those were excuses to keep me from realizing regression was the real objective. What do you think?”

“...”

Tuner stared up silently at Se-Hoon, accepting his mockery, then shrugged.

“Think whatever you want. It doesn’t change anything, does it? Either you just fight me one-on-one and end it cleanly, or you keep the war going until one of us collapses.”

“...”

“Or what? Now that you know everything, you’re going to tell me to surrender—”

“The most painful thing for a creator,” Se-Hoon began, cutting Tuner off with an even voice, “is destroying something right before it’s finished.”

“What?”

Just as that word left Tuner’s mouth, Se-Hoon pulled out something from the Dream Storage: a cube bound by a ring, the Aeon Sphere.

Naturally, Tuner recognized the Void that was sealed within, making him pause before soon letting out a sigh.

“So what? We’re at the finish line, and you still need to boast about it?”

“Boast?”

“If this is not boasting, then what? You’re going to throw that at me? Go ahead. If you can, do it. It might even be a useful experience.”

The void was dangerous even to Tuner, which was exactly why he was confident Se-Hoon wouldn’t use it. The instant that much of the Void spilled out, not only would both of them die... the planet itself could vanish.

“I get that you’re annoyed from being dragged around, but you’ve done the same until now, haven’t you? Since this is the last time, I’ll be generous—”

Click-

Se-Hoon released the power of Regression that was keeping the Aeon Ring’s seal cycling.

Woong!

The Aeon Ring dyed black in an instant, and the Void began leaking out without pause.

“W-wait! What the hell are you—”

“You said it wouldn’t be a bad experience, no? So I figured I’d try.”

“That was just something I said! If you do this, you’ll regret it! Not just your allies—all humanity might die permanently, without even the chance to revive! Are you really okay with that?!”

The void—that foreign substance spilling in from outside the confines of the world—had more than enough power to make that happen.

Tuner was absolutely horrified that Se-Hoon—

“I know.”

Despite saying that, Se-Hoon was... smiling?

“That’s why I sent everyone to the Netherworld.”

“...Huh?”

Tuner froze, not understanding. Then, when it dawned, he turned ghostly pale.

“You... don’t tell me...!”

Tuner and the Void could nullify the Blessing of Eternal. So then, what if Se-Hoon just sent everyone to the Netherworld first, before it could be nullified? Simply put, the problem disappeared.

Understanding that too, Tuner hurriedly bypassed the Towers’ system to scan the world.

“...”

Capitals, metropolises, small villages, and everywhere else were all empty. Not a single spec of life remained, leaving only Se-Hoon and Tuner behind.

It was so absurd that Tuner could only let out a hollow laugh.

“Why don’t we break the planet too while we’re at it?”

“You insane—”

CRACK!

The Aeon Ring broke and unleashed the Void onto Tuner and Hiraṇyagarbha.