Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

“Mommy, what’s that?”

A child walking on the street with a lollipop in their mouth pulled on their mother’s hand.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Up there.”

The child pointed up at the white Rift in the sky.

“Huh…?”

The mother widened her eyes. The sky was broken—it would sound crazy on its own, but nothing else could describe the situation better. A white Rift, similar to a shattered mirror, covered the sky.

“F-Follow me!! Now!!”

The mother did not stay dumbfounded and pulled her child by her hand to run into a nearby department store. Everyone around them also got off the streets instead of screaming madly. They had already learned what to do in abnormal situations after experiencing the Day of Calamity.

“What the hell is Guardians gonna do?! That’s not a Gate!!”

They had a point; Gates formed slightly above the ground and never far above them in the sky.

“How big… is that thing?”

It was pointless to use kilometers as a unit of measurement. The Rift was massive enough to cover nearly half of Earth.

Thud, thud.

“M-Mommy… Something’s falling.”

The child with the lollipop pointed toward the department store entrance. Tiny rocks were falling from the sky like hail.

“H-Huh…?”

It was only the start of the disaster. As the white rift grew larger, bigger rocks began to fall. They started as fingernail-sized but grew to fist-sized and eventually to the size of a person’s head. And then… Ɽ𝒶NＯ𐌱Ës

RUMBLE—!!!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

“H-HELP—!!!”

Rocks bigger than buildings poured down. Not only rocks but a mix of white buildings shaped like dice, vegetation, and water poured with them. That wasn’t all.

SPLAT—!!@@novelbin@@

“KYAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

People fell from the sky and turned to mush as they fell to the ground. Limbs, intestines, and brain matter splattered as they exploded.

BOOM—!

“M-Monsters!! Monsters are falling too!!!”

“Those… aren’t m-monsters, they’re demons!!! I’ve seen them before during the Demon Cult incident!!”

Demons and demonic beasts also fell from the sky but the demons among them acted peculiarly.

[A-Aaaahh. S-Stop them.]

[As th-the king c-commands.]

[I want to… go back.]

The demons flew to the larger rocks to block them with their body, minimizing damage to buildings and people. However, it was only a matter of time. The disaster falling from the sky was too great.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”

“R-RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!”

“HURRY, HURRY—!!”

Screams rang throughout Earth. The stench of blood and gunpowder filled the air. Fires blazed everywhere. It was truly the Apocalypse.

“A-Aaaahh.”

The people looked up at the sky in despair. Something other than the rocks sprouted from the widening white Rift— giant hands made of light. They were widening the Rift as if tearing it open.

“N-No.”

The people of Earth could instinctively tell that they would all die once that colossal entity arrived on Earth. The end of the world would be inevitable.

“What in the…”

The people looked blankly up at the sky. There was nothing they could do. Even powerful Players known as Rankers were but powerless citizens before the massive Rift above them. They could only stand around and tremble, awaiting their demise.

“W-We’re all… gonna die.”

The billions of lives on this planet would meet their ends so easily.

Wriggle!!!

Black mucus wrapped around the giant hands as fear spread throughout Earth like a plague, and tried to pull them back into the Rift.

[It is pointless, king of demons.] A deep voice echoed throughout Earth. [Just like I could not stop my paradise from meeting its end…]

Sizzle—!!!

The black mucus wrapping the giant hands burned to a crisp.

The voice declared, [You cannot stop the end of your world either.]

“FUCK YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!!!” A curse echoed. “Kurgh, argh…!”

Oh Kang-Woo, just barely restraining Akart’s body in Luceo Pure, grunted in pain. The Demonic Sea was evaporating— the demonic energy he had absorbed from the countless demons and demonic beasts of the Nine Hells was rapidly depleting.

“Dammit…” Kang-Woo cursed as he bit his lip.

A chill ran down his spine.

‘I can’t believe he resorted to opening a Rift to Earth…’

“You don’t give a shit about your precious paradise anymore, is that it…?!” Kang-Woo shouted.

However, he and everyone else here knew that the paradise had fallen at the hands of none other than Kang-Woo. But of course, even if the paradise had collapsed, he had not expected Akart to resort to making his precious world collide with Earth to destroy both of them.

“YOU FUCKING LUNATIC!!” Kang-Woo shouted but he knew very well nothing he said would stop the impending destruction.

“M-My king!”

“Kang-Woo!!!”

“STAY AWAY!!!” he shouted hastily toward his comrades trying to come this way.

Since he was using the entirety of the Demonic Sea to just barely keep Akart at bay, everything would be over if his focus broke even for a moment. Akart would widen the Rift and Luceo Pure would fall on Earth.

‘I don’t know how large Luceo Pure is, but…’

Even an asteroid was capable of wiping out the majority of life on Earth. Hence, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what would happen if an entire planet were to collide with Earth.

‘Game over.’

Everything he had worked so hard to protect would be reduced to dust.

“Haaa, haaa, haaa!!”

Sizzle—!!

Intense pain coursed throughout Kang-Woo as the Demonic Sea evaporated away.

[You cannot stop this.] The Titan of Light trying to tear open the Rift continued resentfully, [Just like how I was unable to stop my paradise’s demise.]

“Shut… up!”

Kang-Woo was acting strong but the situation was not good. Akart, who had unleashed all of his power after giving up on salvation, was unfathomably powerful and Kang-Woo did not have the luxury to replenish his power by devouring the demons of the Nine Hells. He was already using his full power to keep the Titan at bay.

‘Shit, shit, shit!’

Curses filled Kang-Woo’s head. His arms, controlling the Demonic Sea he had extended wide to wrap the colossal Titan, were shaking.

[Soldiers of Light.] Akart commanded, adding to the worst-case scenario. [Attack the king of demons!]

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!”

“For the light!!!”

“For the Almighty Akart!!!”

Roars echoed throughout the area. Akart’s retainers charged toward Kang-Woo.

Schwing.

“Don’t you dare…!”

White frost swept the surroundings and a wall made of ice appeared in front of the Soldiers of Light. A frowning Si-Hun stood in front of the wall to protect Kang-Woo.

“Kurgh! Karghh!! Arghh!!” Kang-Woo grunted.

“Hyung…”

Si-Hun looked back at Kang-Woo, writhing in pain as he frantically restrained Akart, in pallor. His body was burning from the Primordial Light as his powers were almost empty. An endless cycle of his skin’s destruction and regeneration ensued and black blood endlessly poured out of his mouth.

“Kurgh…!”

Si-Hun clenched his sword. Even in the dire situation, he was unable to help Kang-Woo.

“Keep it together, Si-Hun.” Layla placed her hand on Si-Hun’s shoulder. “We have to put our trust in Kang-Woo… and buy as much time for him as possible.”

Kang-Woo was using all of his strength to hold Akart. He was practically dangling from a cliff with one finger— everything would be over if a Soldier of Light did so much as to even touch him.

Yeon-Joo also protected Kang-Woo in panic. “H-Hey! Oh Kang-Woo! You’re okay, right?!”

“Kurgh… A-Arghh. Gaaaaaaaahhh!!”

But of course, Kang-Woo couldn’t answer.

“A-Aaaahh. K-Kang-Woo.”

Seol-Ah trembled in pallor. It had been a while since she had seen Kang-Woo make such an expression. His leisurely smile, as if nothing was a complication to him, was gone.

‘He’s making the same face… as the one we saw back then.’

His expression overlapped with the one she had seen through Lilith’s Trait— back when he had frantically struggled in the Ninth Hell.

Ba-dump.

Seol-Ah’s heart beat faster. The twelve wings on her back grew even darker.

“A-Arghh.”

She was overcome with fear— not because Earth would be destroyed if the Rift were fully opened, but because she might lose Kang-Woo.

“No…”

‘NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONOONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO.’

“That is… unacceptable.”

Flutter!

She sprouted her twelve wings widely. Black feathers fell like snow— snowflakes infused with horrible curses. The Apostles of Light who made contact with the fluttering black feathers dried up like mummies.

“ARGHH!!” the retainers of Akart shouted. “SHE’S A WITCH!! KILL THAT WITCH FIRST!!!”

The witch with black wings slowly walked toward them.

“No one…”

The whites of Seol-Ah’s eyes turned black and her irises turned gold. Her pupils stretched horizontally like those of a goat and gazed into the apostles’ souls.

“Can touch him.”

The only one who could touch him, caress him, and embrace him was—

“Only I can touch him.”

It was her privilege— her right— as the one who had promised to spend eternity with Kang-Woo.

“Don’t you dare…”

Black feathers infused with curses danced in the air.

“Touch Kang-Woo with those filthy hands.”

The black-winged witch stared at the Soldiers of Light with lifeless eyes.