I Couldn't Reach It
The ominous presence hit me a few minutes before the deafening roar tore through the city. It was so visceral it made my stomach churn—this fucking thing was unmistakably the Enemy's Will.
There wasn't a second to waste. I scooped Lily into my arms and sprinted forward at full speed.
“M-Master? Why are you—”
“You feel it too now, don’t you?”
“Yes… This… This can’t be—!”
“It is exactly what you think. I was hoping it wasn’t, but it looks like…”
Right then, a thunderous boom echoed and the entire chapel collapsed in on itself. Lily, still cradled against me, went pale with shock. I bit down hard on my lip.
If even I had noticed it this late, whatever had arrived on the other side was no ordinary foe.
First, I set Lily down in a safe spot nearby. Her support abilities were excellent, but without knowing the full situation, dragging her straight into battle would be too dangerous. Right now, the only one who could truly protect her was me.
“Stay here and wait. The moment you see me engage, join the fight, Lily.”
“Understood, Master. Please be careful.”
I reached the ruined chapel in just three strides. The first thing I saw was my youngest disciple—the Last Hero.
“Iris.”
If I had been even a little slower, I would have absurdly lost my youngest. She was covered in minor wounds but still trying to stand. I gently pressed her back down. Don’t waste your strength. Stay right here. You’d only get in the way.
After restraining her, I turned my gaze toward the culprits behind this mess.
“What the hell are you?”
“…Strong.”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking.”
The two figures—a man and a woman—looked eerily alike. In the game and among players, they were both known as the Mad Twins. They were neither demons nor monsters. And they certainly weren’t Fragments of the Demon God.
Among the Demon God Worshippers, there were a few exceptionally powerful individuals. These twins were among them. Once they appeared, they would completely annihilate an entire area. That was why they were called the Mad Twins—or the Complete Destruction Duo.
“I asked who you are.”
“There’s no reason to answer someone who’s about to die.”
My words must have struck a nerve. The female twin let out a grotesque laugh—ha?—that made her look like a living doll of Satan. It wasn’t my imagination.
“Hey. Forget the Saintess. Let’s go with that one.”
“We don’t know who he is. And we received no such order.”
“Doesn’t matter. That one dies no matter what. Don’t stop me.”
“…I wasn’t planning to. If you do it, I have to do it too.”
I stared at the Mad Twins, wondering how best to handle them. Individually, their combat strength was below mine. I couldn’t exactly toy with them, but I could certainly wound them without taking a scratch and finish them off at the critical moment.
Of course, that was only if I considered each of them separately.
“Should I go first? Or do you want to?”
“You first.”
“No. You first.”
“Then why did you even ask?”
“Because it’s my heart?”
“Stop talking nonsense and go already.”
These twins were incredibly peculiar. First, any damage one received was shared equally between them. It was annoying, but manageable. The real problem came next: you couldn’t take one out first.
Their coordination was outstanding, and each perfectly covered the other’s weaknesses. In the beginning, players always tried to kill one quickly and then focus the other. But these crazy twins proved they weren’t called twins for nothing. As long as one remained alive, the other could resurrect indefinitely. Even if you brought one to the brink of death and switched targets, the first would recover instantly and resume attacking the party.
They were powerful enough to rival Heroes. On top of that, their teamwork was exceptional. That alone made them a massive pain, and now I had to deal with both at the same time. Naturally, the twins knew this too, so neither would recklessly expose themselves to danger.
Shuak—! A hand wrapped in pitch-black energy shot past my side. I dodged the female twin’s attack without difficulty. The crazy bitch smiled—kihih?!—either because her pride was hurt by how easily I evaded, or because she found it amusing.
I spun my body with the intent of smashing her face in. My leg, loaded with power, traced a wide arc. But right before impact, the male twin’s shadow collided precisely with my kick. If it had landed cleanly, I would have snapped his neck. What a shame.
“Ah, why?! I wanted to get hit!”
“If you get hit, it’ll hurt a lot. And you won’t be getting up anytime soon.”
“That strong? I knew you were powerful, but damn. Are you a Hero by any chance?”
I’m not a Hero. I’m the Heroes’ master, you idiots.
Their babbling wasn’t worth listening to. I decided to get serious. I hadn’t wanted to draw it, but at this point even Master would understand.
“Huh? Whoa!”
“Watch out!”
At least they had the eyes of named enemies—they could read their opponent. Anyone else would have died wondering why I was pulling a sword.
Fighting in the middle of the city was a bit concerning, but fortunately the twins were standing atop the collapsed chapel, apparently eager to show off their greatness. Thanks to that, I didn’t have to worry about innocent people getting caught in the crossfire as I swung my blade.
First Form: Waning Moon
Perhaps because the sword’s trajectory was completely invisible, the faces of the pair standing before me hardened. The moment they saw the flash pouring toward them, they must have realized it wasn’t something they could block with a smile or casually take with a click of the tongue.
“Dodge!”
Too late. If they were going to dodge, they should have done it before I even drew the sword. The moon had already risen before their eyes. By the time they tried to hide from its light, they were already bathed in moonlight.
“Gaaah?!”
“Guhk!”
Blood sprayed in every direction as the once-confident twins screamed. Invisible arcs carved bloody lines across the woman’s stomach and the man’s chest. The male twin gritted his teeth and quickly formed a seal. Black energy enveloped both him and his sister. The darkness gathered over their wounds, and the gushing blood gradually slowed.
“Cough! Cough! Wh-what the hell was that…?”
“Changing plans. From now on, treat this as an encounter with the worst possible enemy.”
“What? That bad?”
“He landed the exact same attack on both of us at the exact same time. You understand what that means, right?”
In the game, only the woman had dialogue every day, so I’d assumed she was the main one. But it seemed the male twin was actually the brains of the operation. After taking one hit from me, he had immediately realized I already knew how to counter them.
Sharp ones like this were always annoying no matter how many times you fought them. I wished they had acted like other villains—overconfident and relaxed—before dying. That would have been perfect.
“I’m going in! Support me properly!”
“As if you need to tell me.”
This time the twins took the initiative. It looked like the woman would handle the offense while the man halved the damage they received. If any opening appeared, he would immediately unleash long-range attacks. They weren’t Fragments of the Demon God, but they were still mid-boss level threats.
If Lily had been here alone—if the one with the lowest combat ability had faced them—she might have been in serious trouble before even encountering the true Enemy’s Will.
It would have been nice if these bastards had fought the Enemy’s Will pouring into the world instead. But since the Heroes existed on the side of good, the developers must have decided there needed to be equally powerful beings on the opposing side.
When I played the game, I simply found their weaknesses and moved on. Facing them in person like this only made me want to crush them even more. What used to be nothing more than a named monster that dropped mediocre gear had now become a clear enemy whose death would lighten our burden.
“Kuaaaah!!”
The female twin swung her hand, and grotesque claws of a demonic beast came crashing down. One clean slice from those would turn an ordinary person into five separate pieces. Even if not, the flesh would split open with a sickening sound and they would bleed out and die. Just like in the game, this was their strongest technique. If you took a direct hit, you’d suffer from a curse that caused endless bleeding until death. Even without that, the overwhelming presence alone would crush your morale.
You needed at least two fully developed characters to clear them. And that strength was perfectly reproduced here.
Unfortunately for them, however, if their opponent wasn’t a Fragment of the Demon God, I had nothing to fear.
They may have been created as the perfect antithesis to the Heroes, but sadly I wasn’t a Hero standing on the opposite side. I was something one step higher—an outsider.
Taeng—!
“What?!”
She must have been the most surprised. Her attack had been completely repelled without dealing any damage. The moment the twins’ strike turned futile, darkness surged forward to crush me. It was probably meant to buy the woman time to retreat. I ignored it and drew my sword back for the next form.
After all, there weren’t just one of them—there were two.
“Sanctuary Proclamation!”
With a heavy thud against the ground, a brilliant wave of light spread across the entire area. The darkness flying toward me collided with that holy radiance and slowly disintegrated. While her offensive power might be lacking, no other Hero could match Lily when it came to supporting allies.
“The Saintess!”
“Damn it! The Saintess was here?!”
The twins frantically scanned their surroundings. Their eyes locked onto the Hero radiating divine power from behind, the one who had just declared this land as God’s territory. Normally they would have ignored everything else and charged straight at the Divine Hero. But since they weren’t mindless monsters, they couldn’t do that so easily.
They had realized that right now, I was the more dangerous threat compared to the Saintess.
Feeling that their assessment wasn’t half bad, I took a stance similar to the one before. A single streak of light settled onto the sword Master had given me, then vanished toward the tip. The light gathered at the point after passing over the blade’s surface. I gently traced a soft curve, brushing it lightly.
Second Form: Waxing Moon
This time the trajectory would be slightly more visible than the previous attack. Even within this sacred sanctuary filled with golden light, the sword path stood out clearly. I had hoped they might let their guard down a little, but instead the twins’ expressions grew even harder.
With urgent looks, the man and woman closed the distance. They gathered pitch-black energy in their left and right hands respectively. They weren’t thinking about attacking or countering—they were fully committed to defense.
Kwa-jik!!
Blood sprayed everywhere once again as both twins screamed.
“Kuaaaaah!!”
Still, their defense hadn’t been completely useless. The arc of the moon hadn’t even formed halfway before the trajectory twisted. Perhaps because they stood as the Heroes’ antithesis, their endurance was similar to my disciples’.
“Guhk!”
“Kek! Kehk!”
The twins dropped to their knees, coughing up pitch-black dead blood. This strike had definitely injured their internals. There might be no need to use Crescent Moon at all. I could probably end it right here.
Grrrr…
At least until that disgusting presence I could do nothing about revealed itself.
Jjeo-eok!!
With a roar I had never heard before, the sky suddenly split in half. From beyond that rift, an endless darkness opened its maw and snatched the twins away.
“…Fuck.”
I swung my sword just in case, but as expected, my attack scattered uselessly. I couldn’t reach it. I couldn’t touch it. Dealing with those twins was my limit. The rest was something my disciples—the Heroes born with the fate of saving this world—had to handle.
Kugugugu—
The darkness that had seized the twins vanished in an instant. At the same time, I felt a gaze staring at me, eyes rolling wildly. I had stayed silent until now precisely because I feared something like this might happen.
It seemed everything had gone spectacularly wrong right from the start.