-……
It rained.
From the sky covered in black clouds, even darker rain poured down.
The girl stared blankly up at the black sky where the rain fell.
-……
She had always hated the rain.
When the rain touched her body, it stole her body heat, and a body robbed of warmth consumed energy to maintain its temperature.
In simple terms, when it rained, she became hungry much faster than usual.
That was the reason the girl hated rain.
-……
But that day.
Ever since the day she lost her most precious family to the world.
She began to hate the rain even more than before.
-……■
And today, it rained once more.
The rain reminded her of the day she lost her most precious thing.
Standing there, blankly as the rain fell, she suddenly felt the coldness of the water streaming down her body.
-……■■
In that coldness, the girl slowly reached out her hands.
Hoping someone would hold them.
Wishing the warmth of that hand would soothe the chill she felt.
The memory that the girl recalled while reaching out was the warmest moment of her life.
The kind teacher and affectionate villagers.
The warmth of her grandfather, grandmother, and her most beloved family member Myang, who always cherished her.
Longing for that paradise-like warmth, she desperately stretched out her hand.
-■……
But nothing was caught in the girl’s outstretched hand.
All she felt was the chill of the rainwater flowing through her fingers.
In that empty coldness, the girl looked around blankly.
Ah, what has happened?
Though the warmth still lingered vividly in her mind.
Where did that warm paradise go?
What lay before her was a hell stained black, devoid of any people.
-■, ■■…
The girl, having witnessed that hell, began to tremble and cry like a madwoman.
Knowing that it was once the paradise she loved.
And knowing that the one who turned that paradise into hell was none other than herself.
-■, ■■, ■■■■■…!!!!
The girl cried out as if she were going to vomit everything inside her.
But no matter how much she tried, the happiness she devoured and erased with her own hands would never return.
Tears flowed from her eyes.
Black tears, as dark as the rain falling in that hell.
And those tears that trickled down began to stain the girl black, ever so black.
What stained her was the coldness, emptiness, pain, and sense of loss.
To her, all of those feelings were merely hunger.
But those who could fill that hunger had already been devoured by her belly.
So, she had to suffer from insatiable hunger and the pain of that truth for the rest of her life.
And thus, with even greater intensity, the girl murmured while shedding endless tears.
-■■■…
I’m hungry, I’m hungry.
Knowing that this way wouldn’t fill her, the girl, driven by maddening hunger, began to devour everything around her.
But no matter how much she ate.
Even after devouring the last piece of paradise turned hell.
She was still hungry.
Hungry hunger hunger hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry.
The girl, who had already swallowed a world, began to move.
To devour everything from another world.
-■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!
Finally, the moment the end was unleashed from the seal.
*
Some prepared for the fight, while others gathered their thoughts.
All were experiencing a tense silence like the calm before the storm.
Then—
A sudden sound echoed, like glass cracking somewhere.
“…That sound…”
As soon as I heard it, chills ran down my spine.
And instinctively, I realized.
“Ugh, the Witch of Gluttony…!”
That sound was a sign that the seal holding the Witch of Gluttony was beginning to break.
“Quickly tell the people that the Witch of Gluttony is breaking free…!”
As soon as I realized that, I thought I should quickly contact others with the emergency magical tool.
However, it was unnecessary.
The magical tool was already glowing crimson, indicating it was an emergency situation that needed urgent attention even before I could hold it.
The glowing magical tool displayed a short message that had clearly been inputted in a hurry, but everyone understood what it meant with just that.
[All forces, converge!]
The hour of reckoning had come.
*
Immediately after confirming the message, I led the Fury Beasts I had been guarding elsewhere towards the frontline in the Southern Border Area.
So, when I arrived, most of the heroes had already gathered there upon receiving the call.
Yet, despite the assembled forces of humanity, a crushing silence hung in the air.
And soon, I would see the reason for this.
Everyone was silently staring at one place.
Beyond the boundary area, in the plains.
Krrsh—
There was a crack.
Like the space itself had cracked, there was a large gash in the air.
The source of the sound like glass cracking before was that crack.
And with every ‘krrsh’ sound, the crack was growing larger.
……
I began to understand why all those gathered were so silent.
It was fear.
Most of the heroes here had fought against the Witch of Gluttony before.
They had experienced the despair of the overwhelming power gap.
Those who knew the being trying to cross over from that crack could only feel the same fear as the despair they had felt back then.
A deep-seated fear.
Even though everyone was strong-willed heroes, the remnants of their unmasked fear were enough to silence even those who had never fought against the Witch of Gluttony, like Yoon Si-woo.
Everyone was tightly constrained, unconsciously feeling small.
But then—
“…Everyone seems awfully frightened.”
Someone broke the silence.
It was Captain Martina Ivanova, who was leading the current battle.
People bit their lips and straightened up as if her words were a reprimand for their fears.
But Captain Martina merely smiled bitterly at the sight of them.
“…It’s not like I’m saying you’re being cowardly, so lighten up. To be honest, I’m a little scared too.”
Saying that she too shared the fear, she muttered a wry smile.
“It can’t be helped. It’s like we’ve all lost to that thing before. If the other captains and Ms. Eve hadn’t sacrificed themselves to hold back that thing, we would have died that day.”
As Captain Martina spoke, everyone seemed to recall the day they faced the Witch of Gluttony and bowed their heads.
It was true.
Without the sacrifices of Ms. Eve and the two captains, we would have indeed been like defeated soldiers that day.
At that moment, when everyone was recalling the two words ‘defeat,’
“…But does that mean we’re going to lose to that thing again?”
Captain Martina asked with a serious expression, looking at the crowd.
“If we lose again, then those sacrifices will have been for nothing, dying just to buy us a little time. Are we going to let that happen?”
Clenching her fists, her eyes glinting, she asked loudly.
“I ask you! Are you standing here to turn the deaths of our heroes into meaningless sacrifices?”
To the question of whether they would turn the deaths of those who sacrificed themselves for them into meaningless losses, a chorus of gritted teeth responses erupted throughout the crowd.
“No!!!”
With that loud response, Captain Martina followed up with her questions.
“I ask you! What have you all been desperately preparing for up to now? Was it to suffer another empty defeat like before?”
To that question, everyone who had been tirelessly preparing to defeat the Witch of Gluttony responded with fervor.
“Noooooo!!!!”
And in response to those heroic cries, Martina shouted,
“Yes, that’s right!!!”
Following in the footsteps of Ms. Eve, the former Supreme Commander who sacrificed herself for everyone, she took on the weighty role of Supreme Commander.
“We will survive today to ensure their sacrifices are not in vain, and we will win to ensure our preparations are not in vain!!!”
She shouted, facing the heroes directly.
With the sound of shattering glass echoing,
The crack in the air that had been growing larger was beginning to shatter into pieces.
However, the heroes standing behind her were no longer trembling.
“Everyone! Prepare for battle—!!!”
At last, the fight that would determine the fate of this world had begun.
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