Chapter 80
"That's Sertina's ultimate...!"
"Eyes in the clouds, a colossal blood sword... It matches everything that mad old coot claimed."
"Looks like destroying an entire nation wasn't just empty talk."
As the footage ended and the white screen gleamed, the room erupted in murmurs for a moment. Sertina's third-phase ultimate matched the ramblings of that mysterious old man to perfection—the one who claimed to hail from the same world as her.
Can't jump to conclusions yet.
Even amid the growing unrest, the head director kept his cool. He could just be a Chinese survivor who got lucky, having witnessed Sertina's ultimate up close and lived to tell the tale. The sight of Russian drones getting obliterated like driftwood in a wave, even from dozens or hundreds of kilometers away, still sent chills down his spine. He knew full well how absurd it was to survive that apocalypse.
But as the head of a nation's intelligence agency, he couldn't dismiss any possibility—not when national security hung in the balance.
"We'll acknowledge your testimony as factual. However, your claim of coming from the same world as Sertina lacks credibility. Do you have any proof?"
The old man shot him a displeased glare and clicked his tongue.
"Tch, tsk tsk. Can't trust anyone these days, eh, kid?"
He rose slowly from his seat, hands clasped behind his back, and shuffled forward. With deliberate flair, he drew a staff from behind him, its shaft twisted like intertwined vines.
At that instant, the mana in the conference room surged wildly.
Whoooosh—
"Hold it—stop right there!"
"No skills allowed inside the Pentagon!"
The executives leaped from their chairs, rushing to intervene, but...
Kuoooooo—
A torrent of intense mana swirled through the sealed space, halting them in their tracks.
"Nngh! What kind of power is this...!"
"D-Demian! Stop him!"
But Demian remained still, arms crossed, utterly serene.
The old man bared his gums in a grin.
"Heh heh, you boys are such scaredy-cats. Watch closely now."
The swirling mana was sucked into the tip of his staff. The amorphous energy refined itself according to some arcane law, forming a radiant violet magic circle in midair.
"Wh-what is that...?!"
"How...?!"
The executives couldn't hide their shock and awe. Because what the old man was demonstrating wasn't a skill.
In other words, he was wielding mana through pure personal mastery—an unprecedented feat.
With a flourish, the old man channeled the mana into the completed circle, sending violet lightning crackling through it.
"Your world still has no one who can properly wield mana, huh."
The head director stiffened, swallowing hard. One executive's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor.
"Wh-what the hell are you?"
"Idiot. Those holes on the sides of your head for decoration? How many times do I gotta say it?"
A female executive murmured in dazed confusion.
"Pandela..."
Only then did the others grudgingly accept it, nodding in stunned agreement.
"If that's true, this is a serious problem. A world-ending crisis is upon us."
"Sertina... the evil god from Pandela's history books?"
"If she has the same appearance and powers, what else could it be?"
"She was said to have wiped out half a world."
"And that world was... Pandela?"
"Goddamn it, the game lore was real...!"
Silence shattered into chaos. If the old man was right, a blood-maddened destroyer that devoured half of Pandela was gathering strength right here on Earth.
As the room descended back into pandemonium, the old man lowered his voice gravely.
"No need to rush into action."
"B-but if it's true, Earth is on the brink of destruction!"
"She's hiding her true nature right now. She did the same in Pandela. Don't know why, but she's biding her time. Which means we've still got some breathing room."
In the deathly hush that followed, the sound of someone gulping was audible.
As the old man's words sank in, a murmur rose.
"Like a ticking time bomb."
"The problem is what happens when it goes off—humanity wiped out."
"S-so what do we do? We need countermeasures!"
But Sertina was strong. The footage only confirmed it. Provoking that monster head-on would reduce humanity to dust in an instant.
The old man scanned the room with narrowed eyes and spoke slowly.
"Grow strong enough to fight her. Conveniently, your world has this 'update' period where mana weakens, right? She won't escape its effects either."
Just as we thought.Sertina's power would wane during updates. The Pentagon had anticipated as much.
But a core issue remained.
"During updates, we can't use skills either."
"Then train to use them without the System."
"...!"
The old man's casual remark hit like a thunderbolt. One executive's trembling voice cracked the silence.
"I-ignoring the System's control? Is that even possible...?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
The old man laughed heartily and clapped Demian on the shoulder.
"This guy's a sharp one."
Demian rose slowly from his seat. He raised his right hand with deliberate showmanship.
Fwoosh—
Blue flames erupted from his palm.
"What the...!"
"Demian, aren't you a swordsman?!"
Shocked executives shot to their feet, toppling chairs. The old man chuckled amusedly.
"Impressed?"
"......"
The Pentagon brass were speechless, mouths agape, brains short-circuiting.
"An imperial decree has come down. Spare no resources to slay Sertina."
In that brief moment, gazes laden with a storm of emotions crossed the air.
The difference between having even a sliver of mana control and none was night and day! If humanity could wield mana on a broader scale...
Perhaps... the unstoppable terror might cease to be so terrifying.
The old man eyed them steadily and delivered his final words.
"I'll impart to you the mana manipulation arts passed down through the Empire's generations."
The movement to pronounce judgment on the end of life itself was just beginning.
A ruined mountain range—or what was left of it, now just a barren plain. Eons of weathered bedrock had been scoured clean, and the sky, once dumping blizzards, shone clear and blue without a single cloud.
As the bloody aura receded and all returned to primordial nothingness, I contemplated the sunset spilling from the sun dipping beyond the horizon.
"Something's off..."
I clenched and unclenched my small, pale fist. It looked exactly as it had back in Pandela. That only deepened the dissonance.
"Using the third-phase ultimate again made it clear."
This "skill" power that had suddenly appeared. It didn't align with conventional mana usage.
"Hard to believe, but it's nothing less than a divine authority. But if it's authority, why manifest as a skill?"
Five tiny blood droplets rose from my fingertips, sharpening into razor blades.
"And why... in the form of the evil god described in Pandela's ancient texts?"
One question spawned another, endlessly, like an unending Möbius strip.
The antithesis of the memory hero, savior of all. I didn't want to believe that was me. After all, I loved people too much for merciless slaughter.
"I don't know..."
Pondering an unsolvable riddle only muddled my mind. I shook my head to clear it.
Perhaps from the blood blades that had ravaged the ground, the biting Russian chill felt unusually warm.
Shiiiing—
I dispelled the nagging thoughts as Cha Eun-joo's airship descended through the sky.
Yeah, I'm me, and the evil god is the evil god. Even if some hidden truth lurks unknown to me, this heart of mine won't twist.
"Sertina-nim!"
Cha Eun-joo landed, waving cheerfully as always. I took in her bright smile and let my own lips curve upward.
Go ahead, dig up your grand 'truths' and slander me. I'll stick to my convictions and live on.
I'm no evil god—I'm human. Just one person sharing this world and time with everyone else.
That's why I'll coexist with them. Ruling through fear? Never crossed my mind.
Not even if the whole world turns against me someday.
This resolve will never waver.