960 Episode 57 Twilight of the Gods (3)

Eight years ago, immediately after escaping from the Fear Realm, Anna Croft and the Transcendents took refuge on the 'Island of the Reincarnation'.

The great King of the Reincarnation. The master of the 'Island of the Reincarnation', Shakyamuni, offered her protection from the Nebulae, but with one condition.

"Service..."

"How long can we stay?"

Five years. That was the time promised to the Prophet Anna Croft by the King of the Reincarnation. In some ways, it was a long time, but in others, it was also a short time.

Now, there was no Fear Realm to protect her, and the King of Fear was gone. And outside, the Constellations of <Asgard> were targeting her.

"Why five years? Not more?"

Fate. Anna Croft bit her lip and asked again.

"I heard there are recorders who can change [Fate]."

Anna knew this.

The [Fate] given to her was formed through a contract.

No recorder can easily tamper with a [Fate] bound by a sacred contract.

"Can you see my future?"

Anna nodded.

Her core ability was [Future Sight].

At some point, predicting the exact future became difficult, but she remained closer to the 'future' than anyone else. She knew her own future. She simply wanted to receive confirmation from Shakyamuni.

The God of Mischief. Anna Croft knew who he was. He wielded otherworldly power and opposed the 'Management Bureau'. He was also the Constellation of Asgard who had sponsored her with the 'Eye of the Great Demon'.

After five years on the island, Anna Croft was banished. And as if by promise, the Constellations awaited her outside the island.

They were the Constellations of Asgard.

"You too are sick of this."

Because she already knew the future, Anna Croft wasn't flustered. She didn't even think about resisting. Even she couldn't face a dozen Constellations, including a Constellations of the highest order, alone.

And above all else…

She had a reason to be captured here.

"You say you're the representative incarnation, but what have you done to me?"

She protested, but the Asgard Constellations paid no attention.

In an instant, the Constellations subdued her, bound her hands and feet with story metal, and spoke.

The one who came to fetch her, representing the alabaster Constellations, was a aconstellation following Heimdall, the Guardian of the Great Horn Bridge.

Bard, the 'Guardian of the Boundary’. He brandished a massive spear made of stag antler and announced Anna Croft's fate.

Anna Croft opened her eyes with a start, feeling a surge of relief. Her head was spinning, and she kept feeling nauseous.

'Again.'

Holding her grip on the dirt, she managed to regain her balance and stood up, her surrounding battlefield in full view.

Looking at the desolate landscape of the grassland, Anna Croft thought about Yoo Joonghyuk.

Perhaps the Supreme King felt this way.

The first, second, third, fourth... Even the Supreme King, who had repeated dozens of such regressions, must have welcomed each new world with this same feeling.

Unknown. All she knew for sure was that this damned game would repeat itself again.

Anna Croft was confident when she first arrived. She hadn't been idle for the past five years, after all.

She had obtained information about 'Ragnarok' through her deal with the Buddha, thoroughly analyzed it, and trained accordingly.

The stage for advancing to 'Vigrid', the main battlefield of 'Ragnarok'.

The rules for this 'Outpost' were simple.

Either collecting all the 'Prophecies' scattered across the battlefield or killing all enemy units.

A Skirmish could be won by meeting either of these two conditions.

The problem was the additional rules required to meet these conditions.

Even though it was information she knew well, Anna Croft read the same sentence over and over again, wondering if there might be some rule she hadn't read.

Of course, there was no such rule. Nevertheless, she read the sentence over and over again, hoping to delay the tragedy that was destined for her, even if only a little.

She had confidently entered the first battlefield. She had been sufficiently prepared. However, there was one unexpected variable—her [Future Sight] wouldn't work on this 'battlefield'.

She couldn't figure out why. Perhaps the battlefield had been designed specifically to block her [Future Sight], or perhaps it was a plot by <Asgard>.

She couldn't simply lament the fact that her [Future Sight] had been blocked. No matter the situation, all she could do was give it her all. She fought with all her might, and narrowly lost. One silver lining was that defeat didn't mean the scenario was over.

The resurrection system was the true charm of this 'preliminary battle'. Even if the team's luck was poor, if 'she did well', she could still get another chance.

Atop the execution platform, Anna confidently addressed the Constellations.

Given the stunned looks of her fellow participants, Anna believed this was the right thing to do for the greater good of this world. The Constellations granted her request.

And so the next battle began.

This time, having tried once, she thought she could do better. Still unable to see the future, she fought with all her might.

This time, the result was a disappointing defeat.

Anna Croft pleaded once more. The Constellations granted her request once again.

Then, similar events repeated themselves. She fought with all her might, lost, and begged the gods.

Please save her, please give her one more chance.

Ten times, then twenty.

Anna Croft began to realize something was amiss.

When did it begin? One by one, those close to her began to be summoned. They were the remnants of Zarathustra, whom she had never believed were still alive.

She lost Jade in the 589th battle.

She lost Marin in the 874th battle. It was the same in the 911th battle, and in the 934th battle.

One day, as she watched and watched those familiar faces disappear one by one,

She stood before the Constellations.

For the first time, she let herself go.

The Constellations laughed. A long caw of a crow was heard from somewhere, followed by a mantra.

The executioner's blade fell, and her comrades' heads were cut off.

The battlefield opened once more. She was defeated again. She lost her comrades.

And then she realized.

The match, which seemed to have been lost by a narrow margin, was in fact rigged to suit the Constellations’ preferences.

An overwhelming number of Constellations cheered her enemy. Faced with the increasing odds and the shrinking 'Summon Cost', her team was annihilated every time.

Anna Croft felt something inside her crumble. No matter what she did, she couldn’t win.

A battle. All her summoned allies died, and she was constantly resurrected.

And she stood on the battlefield once more.

Listening to the system messages that followed, Anna slowly sank to her knees.

At one point, she even hoped for a miracle. Perhaps an incarnation as powerful as the Supreme King would be summoned to her team.

But that never happened, and the incarnations she trusted in all but one died without exception.

From that moment on, she had only one wish:

In a dazzling beam of light, the random summoning began.

Anna Croft studied their faces anxiously, as if opening a deck of cards. Most of them were unfamiliar faces.

That was until she turned over the last card.

"Anna."

As if a tragedy had been destined, a familiar face was there. A woman waved at her with a warm smile she'd long remembered.

"You... You are really here."

Anna Croft called her name in despair.

"Selena Kim."

Selena Kim. One of the original members of 'Zarathustra'. Ultimately, she, too, had been dragged into this battlefield.

This 'Random Summoning' was, in name only, a random summoning, but it could have been recommended by the Constellations.

So, this too must have been the work of the Constellations.

Anna Croft calmly assessed the situation and began speaking to Selena Kim.

"Selena, request the Constellations of <Asgard>. We must escape from here immediately."

There was no way to save Selena Kim.

"They must have another ticket to the 'main battlefield'. You must escape, even if it means making a dirty deal. You alone—"

"Anna."

Listening to Selena Kim, who shook her head silently, Anna Croft belatedly realized what was going on.

"You volunteered? Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Why did you do that?"

"I heard what you've been through here."

Surely, it wouldn't be surprising for Selena Kim to do something so reckless.

Anna Croft let out a deep sigh and shouted reproachfully.

"Did you even know where this was?"

"Anna, don't give up. You can overcome this."

"You don't know anything."

Anna Croft looked at the randomly summoned incarnations. At first glance, they looked like a ragtag bunch.

"Really, you don't know anything."

They were the terminal incarnations of each Nebula, then abandoned.

Selena Kim spoke again, seemingly aware of her intentions.

"I know you can't use [Future Sight]. But not knowing the future isn't necessarily a disadvantage. You never know. Just as I came here, there might be other allies we don't know about—"

As soon as those words left her mouth, a message rang out from the air.

Selena Kim's expression brightened.

"See? I told you! If it's him—"

"Bald General of Justice."

Anna Croft cut Selena Kim off, looking up into the air.

"I can't accept your help."

"What—"

"If you lose again, you will be annihilated."

Only after hearing those words did Selena Kim seem to realize what was going on.

"No way."

Anna Croft nodded.

"That Constellation has already used probability to help me several times."

She didn't understand why that Constellation on the Korean Peninsula, with whom she had no connection, had gone to such lengths to help her.

However, Anna Croft was grateful to the Constellation, and that was why she couldn't rely on his help any longer.

"I appreciate your kind words, but I don't have enough 'Summon Cost' left to summon you anyway."

Bald General of Justice's minimum summon cost was 250D.

However, the summon cost given to her was only 100D.

Just then, the enemy team's helper summoning seemed to be coming to an end.

The enemy team's main helpers were the Constellations of <Vedas>. Among them, the most crucial was the Narrative-grade Constellation 'Thunder-Eater'. Even at the lowest level, he was a warrior approaching 'high-level' status.

"Anna, we don't have time."

There were no two resurrected in a single match. If she lost this match again, she would lose Selena Kim.

"Yes."

Taking deep breaths, Anna Croft thought about Yoo Joonghyuk.

What would Yoo Joonghyuk do in a situation like this?

No, not Yoo Joonghyuk—

Memories of the man's subtle narrowing eyes forced Anna Croft to smile bitterly. Even though she knew it was a futile thought, Anna Croft often found herself lost in thought about him.

Standing before a blank space, unwritten by past or future, he was unafraid to fulfill the role assigned to him.

"Let's find... an assistant."

Anna Croft controlled her breathing and unfolded the 'Summoning Scroll'.

The warriors she could summon with the current 'Summoning Cost' were at best 'mid-level'.

Still, she was in no position to be picky. Even then, it was only when the opponent complied.

As expected. Anna bit her lip as she listened to the repeated summoning rejection messages.

At that moment, Selena Kim, who had been examining the summoning scroll with her, spoke.

"Anna. What about this warrior? The introduction is a bit strange, though…"

Anna Croft looked to where Selena Kim had spoken. At the end of the scroll. A single line of introduction was written on the border between a mid-level warrior and a low-level warrior.

It was a foolish introduction. A Myth-grade Constellation couldn't possibly be on the list of 'mid-level warriors'.

Still, Anna Croft couldn't help but laugh when she saw the name written above the introduction.

A mixture of a premonition of 'no way', and a sense of despair of 'it can't be', Anna Croft used 'summon' as if possessed.

And a moment later.

A message was heard.