961 Episode 57 Twilight of the Gods (4)

A dazzling halo of summoning light rose. Selena Kim spoke, as if suddenly reminded of something.

"Anna, if it's the 'Demon King of Salvation'—"

"It's the man we met at the Washington Dome."

But there was no guarantee that this was truly him. He vanished with the destruction of the Fear Realm, and his whereabouts remained unknown for eight years. Eight years was a long time.

Those eight years, which to the Constellations seemed like fleeting moments, often felt like time had stopped for Anna Croft. Perhaps it was the memories of the 40th round’s meeting with him and the Fear Realm. For the past eight years, Anna Croft has been using [Future Sight] frequently. Knowing that [Future Sight] frequently malfunctioned after the Fear Realm Incident, she pursued his shadow in the navigable futures.

Eight years have passed. And Anna Croft has never encountered him in any future.

"It can't really be him, though."

"Why do you think so? There aren't many beings with that name."

Anna Croft shook her head at Selena Kim's comment.

"This isn't the first time."

"Huh?"

Over the course of hundreds of battles, Anna Croft had seen similar names on the list of allies. Names like Kim Dokja, the Demon King of Salvation, and the King of Fear.

"The allies' nicknames are chosen by the allies themselves."

At first, Anna was hopeful. She hoped it could be him. She hoped he had truly returned from that hellish Fear Realm Incident.

But the summoned were foolish, unaware of where they had been summoned. They were incarnations. All of them had participated in the 'sponsored summons' of the Constellations.

It was a vicious prank by the Constellations, who had overheard her battle.

"Then again..."

"He's obviously just an idiot imitating him."

The real her wouldn't have wasted 100D on someone like this, wasting her chance to summon. That would only bring amusement to the Constellations who played such a mischievous prank.

"But why did you summon this person?"

"That's..."

And why did she choose this person?

It was difficult to explain the exact reason. Perhaps she was glad to see that name again at this very moment, when her comrade Selena Kim was already in the fight. Or perhaps her [Future Sight] had malfunctioned for so long that she had gone slightly crazy.

But a romantic recorder might record her current state of mind like this:

"I don't know."

She knew she shouldn't say that. Most of the incarnations summoned by the Constellations' pranks were those who had been inevitably collateralized by the Constellations.

Anna Croft thought of the countless Kim Dokjas, the Demon Kings of Salvation, and the Kings of Fear who had died before her.

Perhaps this time, she wouldn't be able to save the summoned. So now, her story was nothing more than a stinging resignation to an unchangeable tragedy.

"Without a glimpse of the future, I can only make such ordinary choices."

The summoned finally emerged from the hazy smoke. Anna Croft gazed at him, her eyes glowing crimson. Just as she was about to examine what kind of idiot it was this time, the eye that had activated [Eye of the Great Demon] began to sting. Anna Croft held her breath involuntarily. She had experienced something similar before.

"Now you understand."

The moment the man's voice rang through the smoke, Anna Croft felt the boundaries between past, present, and future blur for a moment. Even as she wondered if this moment might be a plaything of the Constellations, and as she swore she couldn't be shaken, her mind refused to listen.

It was true. There were many incarnations in the world who bore the nickname 'Demon King of Salvation'. But,

"That's how people who can't see the future live."

There was undoubtedly only one man who could say something like that with a sly smile. Still, Anna harbored doubts to the very end. Was this all an illusion created by the Constellations? Was her malfunctioning [Future Sight], her 'Eye of the Great Demon' displaying a delusion?

A story, flowing from his entire being, confirmed his identity.

"Have you forgotten my face?"

Selena Kim stepped forward in place of Anna Croft, who was still unable to respond.

"My goodness, it really was you."

"Selena Kim."

Watching the two people firmly shaking hands, Anna Croft struggled to regain her senses. As the scene she had longed to see became reality, a strange resentment welled up within her.

"Why did you come, you...?"

"You summoned me."

"You're not the kind of person who would come just because I called."

Their reunion after eight long years. Anna Croft felt uncharacteristically bitter in the face of such a reunion.

"I."

Anna Croft, her lips pursed, lowered her head and stuttered.

"How much I—"

She couldn't tell the man before her the whole story. During her stay on the Island of the Reincarnation, and after entering the prelude to Ragnarok, she had used countless methods to search for his life or death.

How many carrier pigeons and messages she had sent, she couldn't tell.

The man never responded, and so Anna Croft was certain of his death.

And now, just as she was finally able to resign herself, she finally felt the long-awaited return of her life. Just as she was about to let go of her beliefs and even her life, he reappeared.

Anna Croft raised her head and thought with her sluggish mind.

"Run away."

"Huh?"

"Run away. Even now, I'm sure you can get another ticket."

The man looked at Anna Croft carefully and asked again.

"Do you really want that?"

Anna Croft nodded.

"Yes."

The man smiled brightly.

"Interesting."

The man said, taking a brisk step closer.

"You're afraid I'll die now."

Anna Croft instinctively took a step back.

"No. I just…"

The hastily crafted excuse struggled to hold together. The man stared at Anna Croft in silence. Though he simply stared, Anna Croft knew that his gaze was reading her.

It was the same before. Someone who could read and guess people's minds at will. And even more so because it was so accurate. Her relationship with him had always been one of injustice.

"I hate that you came here."

And yet, for the past eight years, Anna Croft had missed that injustice a little.

"How on earth could you possibly answer this summons? Did you even know where this place was in the first place?"

The man she met after eight years still gazed at the sky with those same unfair eyes.

"This is the playground of the Constellations. The coliseum of the Constellations that wish to postpone 'Ragnarok' forever."

As if responding to the man's gaze, a dizzying number of Constellations twinkled in the sky.

With their presence intact, this stage would never be destroyed.

"You came all this way knowing that?"

The man answered, as if he wasn't at all afraid of the starlight.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You summoned me."

Anna Croft thought. Even if she had been able to use [Future Sight], she wouldn't have known what to say now.

And as always, the man easily filled the void of the future she couldn't fill.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, Kim Anna-ssi."

The man still called her by a strange name.

Faced with his sly tone, all Anna Croft could do was act like 'Kim Anna', as the man had said.

"... Yes."

With a deep sigh, Kim Anna barely took a step forward and extended her hand.

"It's been a while, Kim End-ssi."

It was their first reunion in eight years.

The first thing I did upon entering Valhalla Hall was to come up with a nickname.

It was clear how the situation was unfolding.

The summoning of the helper, and the game's content. This 'preliminary battle' was undoubtedly inspired by the 'Mythical Battlefield' of the Demon King Selection Tournament.

Somewhere, the 'Mass-Production Maker' smiled meaningfully. In this seemingly imaginary landscape, I pondered.

Each team’s commander could summon additional allies using their 'summoning costs', and indeed, the summoning was still ongoing.

The newly added enemy of Kim Anna seemed to have quite a lot of 'summoning costs'.

Fortunately or unfortunately, my required summoning cost wasn’t high.

I turned my head to the Constellations’ conversation, and saw the General wiping the fragments of stories flowing from his head. Only then did it begin to make sense. Was that why the General was in that state?

I thought again. I looked at the nickname creation window.

With Anna's personality, she would surely meticulously review every summoned. So there was no way she wouldn't see the nickname I'd created.

The problem was what kind of 'nickname' to choose.

Several candidates quickly flashed through my mind. The first one that came to mind was 'Kim End'.

Perhaps if I chose 'Kim End', Anna Croft would definitely recognize me. And of course, 'Kim End' was a name proven by the history she and I shared.

Nevertheless, I ultimately chose not to choose that name.

Because...

I don't know what happened, but when I met Anna Croft again after eight years, she was a different person.

If it were me, I wouldn't know.

If she thought of me as a colleague, she might not have called me with the name 'Kim End'.

"So you named yourself 'Demon King of Salvation'?"

"Yes."

"No, why on earth?"

"You don't like the 'Demon King of Salvation', do you?"

"Me?"

"You lost allies with Asgard because of the Demon King of Salvation, and that's why you ended up like this. I was sure you would hate that name."

"…"

"Seeing you summoned me, it seems my prediction was correct."

I nodded, secretly pleased, but Kim Anna's expression was strange.

"You really—"

I wondered if it was just my imagination.

Is it just me?

Kim Anna, whom I hadn't seen in eight years, seemed to have become a little more resentful.

I understand. According to 'Ways of Survival', even Yoo Joonghyuk's personality was at its worst when he had regressed about 500 times.

Kim Anna sighed lightly and spoke.

"Okay. Let's leave that aside. So what are we going to do now?"

"We have to fight."

"Do you think this is a winnable fight?"

"We've cleared worse scenarios, haven't we?"

"If you're trusting my [Future Sight], I'd tell you to escape immediately."

As expected. I'd expected it.

"Is [Future Sight] blocked?"

Anna Croft nodded gravely.

"Yes. My [Future Sight] won't work on this battlefield."

The fact that [Future Sight] didn't work meant that there was a hidden element in this scenario that was interfering with [Future Sight].

I'd felt it from the moment I entered the battlefield. Every breath of air in this world had a terribly unpleasant stench.

The green meadows of the stadium. I could see at a glance the stories flowing vigorously beneath the plains.

Looking at them, I understood precisely why Anna Croft's [Future Sight] had been completely ineffective on this battlefield.