Chapter 712 – At the End of Romance (2)

It must be collapse.

‘More precisely, the collapse of a curse.’

The moment I saw it, I understood.

“Resentment. Hatred. Sorrow.”
“I don’t know anything. Why… what did I do wrong…?”
“Please, don’t abandon us…”

The visions I had so desperately refused to acknowledge
now stood before me in solid form—
wouldn’t it be stranger not to recognize them?

Yes.
What poured out of the collapsed curse
were the Original Sins.

‘Our Original Sins.’

Axenheights offered a blunt assessment.

“More horrific than I anticipated.”

The worst among the worst, one might say—
no expression could be more fitting.

Grandfell was the one who manifested the curse,
bringing its truth into reality.

‘The truth of the blurred memories from previous regressions.’

Once again—
instead of words,
you’re showing me through action, aren’t you?

A bitter taste crept up my throat.

‘Of course it couldn’t have been possible.’

When I saw this twisted Demon Realm, a question plagued me:

How did the Hoyeol of the first regression reverse time?

Lee Hoyeol after the first cycle had been provided for.
Whether from the arrangements he left behind,
the contingencies Grandfell prepared,
or simply through growth—
there was always help born of a previous timeline.

But the first Hoyeol… had nothing.

‘With my mediocre mind, reaching the pinnacle of time-reversal magic?’

Laughable. Impossible.

He must have manifested reversal magic
without complete understanding—
pushed to a dead end, with no choice left but that.

The price of such reckless casting
was this unspeakable horror now before us.

“Original Sins… What have you done!?”

That was Lorenzik’s first question
after regaining his senses.

‘What have I done?’

It’s no different from when I reversed the Demon Realm.

Without a proper comprehension of the Demon Realm
or the worlds it consumed—
forcing time-reversal magic produced only this:
a barely-maintained, unstable ruin.

‘The only difference is that the focus was time, not space.’

Even if one could reverse the flow of time—

To wholly understand the worlds and beings bound to that time
is impossible.

Not only for the first Hoyeol—
even now, after countless regressions,

‘I am no exception.’

And—

‘The Karma tells the truth.’

Karma, immeasurable in magnitude,
proved the cost:

All those left behind in the timelines I discarded
were forced to shoulder the consequences
of my lacking understanding and desperate reversal.

Otherwise, how could such Karma ever accumulate?

The curses, now given form, spoke to me:

“Why… did you… abandon us…?”

Yes.
I turned away.

Whenever I believed I had failed,
I irresponsibly reset the worldline—
never once considering what would become
of those forsaken by the reversal.

Driven solely by my stubbornness,
I repeated the magic again and again.

I looked toward Grandfell’s Evil Eye.

‘As I’ve said countless times— you truly show no mercy.’

Lorenzik shook his head frantically.

“No—forget the answer! This is no time to stand still! You must move! You, more than anyone, know how dangerous this is!”

An explorer of Lorenzik’s caliber could sense it instinctively—

Ssssss—

The suitable mana spilling from the collapsing curses.
Even through my vision, well-versed in black magic,
a suffocating torrent of pasts and stories
was coating everything.

‘This is far beyond merely worrying about corruption.’

Magic capable of drowning
the entire world in the infinitely deep darkness—
and that is not an exaggeration.

‘Because it is the suitable mana born of previous regressions.’

Axenheights already seemed prepared to flee—
a demon hunter who knew better than to fight
any foe that wasn’t strictly a demon.

However—

“There is nothing to fear.”
“W-what…!?”
“It will not harm you.”

Because I knew.

You, Grandfell,
are the one manifesting this curse.
And your intent behind such a curse
is already painfully clear to me.

“At least… not for you.”

You are endlessly reminding me
why we must honor our promise.

As always,
you spare not even a shred of concern
for how I feel.

‘But… fine.’

Shock therapy, is that it?

The throbbing in my mind finally eased.
Even though I know full well
this is not how things should be—

‘I understand. There’s no time left for complaints.’

Even as the curses hurled resentment at me,
I did not falter.

Because only one thought filled my mind—
and surely, Grandfell shared it:

‘If all of this is a tragedy we created—’

more specifically:
chuunibyou,
the childish immaturity of emotion—

‘Then we must clean up the mess ourselves.’

Because only we
can put an end to everything we began.

*

*

read only on pindang

*

*

“Let’s… just wait and see for now.”

The Holy War Alliance instinctively took up battle positions.
Leonie frowned at Nam Taemin’s suggestion.
This guy—since when did he think ahead like this?

“You know something, don’t you?”
“Yeah, Taemin!”
“H-hey, look! It’s collapsing already!”

The battle against the dragons led by Eunaxus.

They had already experienced the terror of a curse once.
The only relief was that dying inside the curse didn’t mean dying for real.

“But if we die outside the curse, then… isn’t it over?”
“Sir Fabian, is that true?”
“Judging by all known knowledge—yes, that assumption seems correct.”
“……!!!”

The players already knew how terrifying Collapse was—thanks to the [Rifts] that appeared in reality.
Park Hwigang folded his trembling fingers one by one as he listed the reasons.

“Once collapse hit, all those monsters inside spilled out at once.
If the same logic applies here… and considering the dragon we just fought…”

Crackle— Crack.

There was no way to properly respond to a curse on the brink of collapse.
The odds of getting swept up and dying were overwhelmingly high.

Even Senior Bensch finally opened his mouth.

“We may need a large-scale teleport, Senior Mages.”

No wonder they were all pushing back against Taemin’s words.

“You figured something out, right? Because if not, I’m going to be disappointed.”

Shahin stared into the crack of the collapsing curse with crimson eyes—eyes that could see a few seconds into the future.
But there was nothing to catch.
Just an abnormally dreadful aura boiling out.

“……”

Shahin turned his gaze to the still-silent Nam Taemin.

‘Did I overestimate him?’

The Barbarian Adventurer.

Potential aside—he already felt like a completed leader.
But if he was making a reckless choice that could kill everyone…

Shahin was about to look away when—

“It shouldn’t feel like this. But doesn’t it seem… strange?”

Taemin spoke hesitantly—absently rubbing the tip of his nose.

‘Why…?’

From the collapsing curse, a terribly familiar scent wafted toward him.
A curse was supposed to be an illusion created by demons—
so sure, maybe that made sense…

But—

‘Why on earth have they all transformed into that state……?’

Crackle—

Out of the fully collapsed curse emerged grotesquely twisted shapes—
shapes that looked like everyone.

Leonie smacked the back of Taemin’s head.

“Hey! Snap out of it! Do you have a death wish?!”

He muttered quietly:

“…Maybe that would be better.”
“What?”
“Hm? Nothing.”

Only then did Taemin step onto the gigantic teleportation array.
Destination uncertain—just get far away from this curse.

Mana roared beneath their feet.

“You meant that, didn’t you?”

Leonie asked quietly.
Better off dead?
What kind of thought leads a big guy to say something that fragile?

“Answer me.”

Her gut told her the truth would be bad.

“……”

But Taemin stayed silent.

‘The curse is a message from Claudi.’

From that message, something twisted and monstrous had emerged.
And those things smelled like… everyone.

Maybe this was Claudi’s warning.

‘Just like how I realized the boy with black hair was Hoyeol.’

Now that they had stepped into the Demon Realm—

There might be no choice left for them.
Like it or not—
they would face the brutal truth.

‘At the end…’

Taemin clenched his fist tight.

‘…a decision may truly have to be made.’

*

---

Seoul.

“Is it just me, or does something feel… off?”

Warily, an arm hooked around her own—her one and only little sister.
Lee Jiyoon prided herself on one thing:

“Spit it out.”

Those stuck in the middle developed survival instincts.
Which meant Jiyoon and her younger sister Yerim understood each other well.

“You’ve been prepping to ask something since earlier.”

Hoyeol might be oblivious, but Jiyoon never missed a thing.

“Was it that obvious?”
“From the second you said you were coming to pick me up.”
“What, I can’t pick up my beloved sister?”
“Cut the crap. Need money?”
“Wow. I’m not a parasite!”

Yet she naturally led them toward a nearby restaurant.

“In what world do they give a vacation for that kind of disaster?”

Agares appeared in Seoul—
and Yerim’s department took the direct hit.

As she chewed on her cheese katsu, Yerim agonized.

‘Should I just tell her the truth?’

That she didn’t get vacation—
she quit on her own.

“This is why even being a servant, you gotta serve a noble house…”

After the Great Shift, people returned to their same old routines.
Even after being attacked by Agares—
no special leave.
Back to work as usual.

But Yerim couldn’t take it.

‘How was I supposed to face that bastard again?’

Team Leader Kim.
The one who ran his mouth back in the subway station.
And Yerim had snapped back—saying everything a subordinate shouldn’t say.

But strangely…

‘He didn’t remember any of it.’

No one did.
Only Yerim remembered the truth of that day.

Which is why she needed to know—

‘Am I crazy? Or is the world crazy?’

Because the silver eye in the sky—
shouldn’t have existed.

And yet suddenly—

‘Whatever happened…’

For some reason, that eye became an enemy to defeat.
But Yerim remembered the truth:
Agares’ hatred had been aimed at Hoyeol.

‘Why did it all get pinned on the Silver Eye instead?’

Was she bewitched?
Or was Seoul bewitched?

She didn’t have the courage to ask Hoyeol.
So asking her sister was the most she could do.

“Hey, sis.”

Yerim finally decided to voice it.

“What do you think of the Silver Eye…?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“It lights up the night sky. I mean, doesn’t it feel weird to you?”
“Did your katsu get stuck? You’re talking ridiculous.”

Jiyoon—ever cynical—stared at her long and hard.
Then, casually, she said something unexpected.

“It just looks… pitiful to me.”
“Pitiful?”
“Yeah. Like it’s struggling with something too big.”

Pity.
For a demon.

Jiyoon chuckled at herself.

“Maybe I was a demon in my past life.”

Then added softly—

“Either that… I was ‘family’ with one.”