Whoosh!

"Young master, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" When Yul returned to the headquarters, Bush Lily who was waiting anxiously in his office, came running frantically. He immediately scanned Yul carefully to see if he was injured. Fortunately, Yul didn't seem to be. There wasn't any sign of him having a struggle either. But his expression was grave.

"Did things…not go well?" Bush Lily's expression darkened as well. Then, he pretended as if nothing had happened and smiled brightly, patting Yul on the shoulder. "Darn! I guess the Death King isn't really as powerful as the rumors say. It's alright. We can just do as we've been doing…"

"Bush Lily."

Bush Lily furrowed his brows at Yul's emotionless words. He asked, "Yes?"

"How many soldiers can we mobilize right now?"

"…What?"

"They need to move in secret and as quickly as possible. How many can we mobilize?"

Bush Lily very much wanted to ask what had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to upon seeing Yul's eyes. Something big was going to happen. He immediately said, "Three hundred."

"Is that all?"

"We can mobilize more if we have to, but you're trying to avoid the eyes of the enemies, aren't you?"

Thinking that "their" eyes were everywhere, Yul sighed. "I see it'll be a bit difficult. But it's worth a try."

"Are you thinking about a coup?"

"They were able to do it, so why shouldn't we? Fortunately, since their underlings Artichoke and Rafflesia are dead, things will be easier."

"…!"

"Please focus the others on locating suspectful people and taking over the main system."

"Understood. I prepared blacklists thinking something like this might happen someday." Bush Lily snorted at the thought of finally paying back what they'd received. He didn't ask about Freesia. Yul stepping up like that meant victory was definitely on their side right now. He then asked, "Then when will the rebellion start?"

Yul's eyes darkened. "Now."

* * *

Crash!

"Everyone put your hands up!"

"W-What is the meaning of this…?!"

"What are you doing, Young Master?! Do you think you'll be safe after… Ack!"

"You don't have to be concerned about my safety, so why don't you start worrying about yourselves?"

Soldiers moved according to Bush Lily and Yul. They took over the office mainly used by Artichoke and Rafflesia, and attacked quickly so their subordinates wouldn't be able to take action. They gained authority after taking over the main organizations under By the Table, so the people who had secretly joined sides with Artichoke and Rafflesia had no choice but to come out.

There was resistance, but Yul took none of it. Through the confiscated material, Yul was able to see how carelessly By the Table had been run and how involved the enemies had gotten into pulling the strings.

"What will you do about these people—"

"Capital punishment to those who handed over Level Two secrets or anything above that, and the rest should be kept in custody depending on the severity of their sins. Have the organization they are a part of pay for the damages they've done, and charge them with interest as well."After giving authority to Bush Lily to take care of those whose sins came to light, Yul sat in his office and closed his eyes. He felt like he could see when his master Freesia first brought him here. She was the second person to extend a hand to him when he hadn't known how to do anything.

'You must be safe, Master.' Then, Yul slowly opened his eyes and walked toward a corner of the office. There was a tall bookshelf standing there. When he pulled a book that was at the center, the shelf spun to reveal a hidden safe behind it.

If something happens to me…

Master, what are you saying suddenly…!

No, you must listen. You're my successor and the safe keeper to this place. Remember. This is what it means to be the leader of By the Table. We must protect this place for the person who'll someday—for Lady Rhea's descendant. So please protect this well. And when Lord Yeon-woo returns… show him this immediately.

Ten years ago, Freesia's instincts must've sensed something would go wrong because she summoned the young Yul here before she left for the collapsing Tower. At the time, Yul nodded, but he thought Freesia was worried too much.

But things had happened as Freesia said they would. After that, he never forgot what Freesia told him and waited for Yeon-woo to return. He realized this safe was what the enemies were after, but he pretended not to know.

Finally, now that Yeon-woo was here and began his salvation, Yul believed it was time to open the safe. He put his hand on the door, and the tightly-shut safe began to open.

Click!

* * *

"I believe so."

『Huh!』Kronos laughed in disbelief at Yeon-woo's calm answer. He knew it was only a hypothesis, but it was most likely true. He wondered if this Thor being from another "dream" was that even possible.

"I don't remember which dream it was…but the Thor I saw looked like that. He was generous and humorous, so he had multiple friends in various societies."

『That Thor must've been quite different?』

"His name was the only thing that was the same."

The "dream" Yeon-woo and Kronos were speaking of was a type of "cycle." It was a cycle that began with the Heavenly Demon's genesis and stopped with the Black King's end of things. The cycle had repeated a myriad of times now. There were a vast number of people born, and countless events had occurred. However, they were all gone and nothing now.

There was almost no one who remembered them either. Only very few remember, and they were on the verge of disappearing because they had been worn from the repeating cycle. This was the case for Uranos, Metatron, and Baal. They had once had great powers that transcended universes, but they had become shells of who they were.

Inside the Black King, Yeon-woo had viewed and experienced many of these cycles. There were beings who were happy, sad, joyful, and resentful. But they disappeared without a trace, and all he could do was look sadly upon them.lightsnovel

The Black King waking from his dream meant the universe would end, so nothing could survive. The only exception were the beings of the Night, who existed "outside." It was because they weren't from the Heavenly Demon's universe of creation in the first place.

But now, it seemed there was someone who had survived a universe's end.

"I worked the hardest to stop the end of things when it approached. Although I wasn't able to stop it."

The one chosen to carry out the end of things by the Black King was always someone who had the most resentment in that "dream." Likewise, there were always one or two opponents who appeared to stand against that being. The Thor who was looking sadly at him was one of those opponents.

『You're saying someone who should've disappeared with the end somehow survived?』

"Yes."

『Then he must be a fragment of the lost 'dream.'』Kronos finally understood why it felt like traces of an old universe were forced onto this planet. Thor's existence wasn't something this "cycle" could accept. He murmured.『Oceanus said their mission was taking the 'dream.' If this organization is made of fragments like that guy… I understand. Since their dream is already gone, they're trying to take another dream. That's a very nomadic solution, but it's a bit annoying for some reason.』

Spark, spark! Just then, yellow lightning began to crackle from the man's body. It was a power that equaled Sword Thunder. The atmosphere shook and the red sea splashed, then instantly evaporated. Countless bolts of lightning began to pour down from the sky like rain. Intense holy power was materializing.

[Cernunnos, who has been observing the battlefield, narrows his eyes.]

[An unidentifiable holy power spreads throughout the universe!]

[Many gods are shocked at the appearance of a mysterious holy power!][Many demons express wariness at the appearance of a new strong being!]

…

[The godly society <Deva> attempts to discover the identity of this holy power.]

[The godly society <Memphis> is hopeful they can find a new ally who can stop <Olympus>.]

…

[The demonic society <Jie Sect> begins a heated debate about the owner of this holy power.]

…

The gods and demons all reacted to the appearance of a new strong being, but Kronos looked at him in annoyance.『We went through all that to stop the 'cycle,' and these guys are saying they're going to take it.』

Yeon-woo grinned. "Father, don't get the facts mixed up. I did it all, not you. Don't try to take the credit for yourself."

『Hey! I took part in it too!』

"You didn't."

『Darn you! If I didn't make conversation with you, you'd already be…!』

"Let's begin."

lightsΝοvel 『Hey!』

Yeon-woo cut off Kronos and stretched his hand out. Kronos grumbled, but he didn't refuse his son's request and returned to his sword form in Yeon-woo's hand.

Whoosh! When a being who reached the emperor level and a being who had been the king of gods became united, the holy power that was exuded wasn't something that could be expressed in words. The planet exploded, unable to endure the pressure, and shadows descended from the sky, trapping Yeon-woo and Thor in an Illusory World.

[You have entered the Instance Dungeon, 'Lightning of Darkness and Gold!']

"I wanted to take care of things before you woke up, then quietly leave this 'dream.'" Thor spread out his hands that were filled with holy power. His right hand had yang, and his left hand had yin. The opposite energies were so condensed that it felt threatening just by approaching him. He simply said, "But since that didn't work out, we have no choice but to become forceful."

Crash! Thor brought his hands together in a loud clap. It was a similar position to when people put their hands together for Buddhist prayers, but the result was entirely different.

〈Two Extreme Destruction Lightning〉

Boom! The energy of the two extremes crashed and spread out. The Illusory World quaked, almost breaking, and the storm of lightning repeatedly slammed down on Yeon-woo. It was a greater explosive power than what Zeus had. No, it was impossible to even compare.

『This…might not be easy.』Kronos muttered to himself in disbelief.

[Draconic Divine Eyes]

[Fiery Golden Eyes]

[Black Gubitara - Philosopher's Eyes]

[Eye of the Heavens]

Yeon-woo didn't miss the imperfections that appeared between the lightning storm.

[Black Gubitara]

[Breath]

After activating Vimalacitra's power as Breath, it tore through the lightning storm and whipped the area where Thor was standing. Space was shredded. The Illusory World was filled with white light. Thor's presence was gone like he was dead.

However, Yeon-woo raised Scythe above his head without any hesitation. As space was split, Thor appeared. In his hand was a golden hammer that Yeon-woo hadn't seen before.

〈Mjolnir〉

Crash! With a majestic boom, the clash between the two powers began.