Beyond the thick fog.
The 'erosion' has begun in earnest.
[Grow.]
Shwaaaaak-
The apostle of Paradise strolled leisurely through the mist, scattering his seeds indiscriminately.
The seeds sown in this way dug into the ground.
Yangpyeong's clean forests are slowly beginning to change.
[Prosper.]
Tsk tsk- Tsk tsk-
The once clean soil gradually turned a dark purple and began to feel sticky like flesh.
Above it, the roots of Elvenwood spread out like blood vessels.
Push- push-
Roots burst through the ground, beginning to envelop everything around them.
The tree trunk grew and writhed in strange ways.
It was a form that could no longer be called a tree.
It moved and grew on its own as if it were a living organism.
[This will be my new paradise.]
Choaaaak-
A messy mycelium covered the forest.
It spread like a spider web, infecting everything around it.
Trees, grass, rocks… … even the air.
Everything gradually became familiar to the apostles of paradise.
[I dedicate all these to my great god, Itarim.]
… … Wherever his footsteps took him, the pristine nature of Yangpyeong transformed into something fro
m outer space.
Swoosh-
In the damp fog, buds of Elvenwood began to sprout here and there.
It grew at an astonishingly fast rate, changing the surrounding landscape in an instant.
The pine trees that were growing healthily were infected by the roots of Elvenwood and began to rot.
The rotten and decayed trees became new nutrients for Elvenwood.
And the little animals that were playing on it began to mutate into hideous creatures.
Kiyaaaa!
[Haaah. Good.]
The Apostle of Paradise took a deep breath of this familiar air and bared his teeth viciously at the edge of
the paradise he had created.
This was a much faster rate than he had been able to produce pots elsewhere in the past.
This was a passage that showed how much the Apostle of Paradise was gnashing his teeth and how angr
y he was at the guardian who had brought shame upon him.
at that time.
At the end of Yangpyeong, which is strangely changing.
[… … Are they humans?]
Flash.
A completely different landscape came into view of the apostles of paradise.
For some reason, it felt like only that place was brightly lit.
"Sister! Look at this!"
"Wow, what a pretty flower!"
"I want to see it too, me too!"
Gyareuk, the sound of bright laughter.
You can see children running around and chatting away.
In the spacious, elegantly decorated garden, children were smiling brightly with bright expressions.
Their pure laughter echoed through the clear sky that had not yet been eroded.
Hehe.
[It's an orphanage. That's a good thing.]
The eyes of the apostle of paradise who discovered the place while walking from afar sparkled.
When he first arrived on Earth, he had no interest in the human race.
What good would it do to know what kind of ecosystem has formed on this planet?
Anyway, I'm going to kill them all and melt them into a handful of mana.
All they had to do was just erode and pollute it like this and turn it into the familiar ecosystem they used t
o live in.
But while staying with Yuri Orlov in Russia, I happened to notice some of his striking features.
Especially among them… … .
'family'
A concept that does not exist in their world, but exists in humans.
The very concept of 'family' was an extremely unfamiliar culture to the Apostles of Paradise.
Strictly speaking, Itarim, who created him, was close to his parents, but he was fundamentally different fr
om humans in terms of concept.
First of all, humans do not worship or respect their parents who created them as gods.
Their parents also do not destroy the creatures they created if they disobey their commands.
That was quite interesting and awkward at the same time.
Then, what was discovered was that they were humans who had been abandoned by their parents.
A creature abandoned by God?
Doesn't this sound familiar?
A fragmented soul that was sent to another dimension with its personality and abilities torn to pieces whil
e fighting on the battlefield at the command of God.
Because that was precisely the state of the apostle of paradise himself.
Orphans who had lost their parents could not help but feel more familiar.
Maybe when I first discovered Yuri Orlov in Russia.
That may actually be the reason why he willingly cooperated with that human's obvious and blatant desir
e.
Yuri Orlov was also an orphan, so he instinctively rejoiced at the source of his lacking desires.
But as I watched the ecology of humans from Yuri Orlov's side, there was one part that I found most inco
mprehensible.
That's an orphanage.
What on earth is going on?
Humans were gathering and managing creatures that had lost their parents or were abandoned.
Under the pretext of protecting and guarding.
Seriously… … it was such an awkward and useless thing.
"Okay, everyone stop playing and come in! It's lunch time now!"
"Wow! What's it today?"
"Curry Donkatsu!"
"Really? Yay!"
"Wow-!"
A peaceful landscape unfolded before my eyes, as if painted in a painting.
Seriously… isn't it embarrassing?
But the apostle of paradise now knows.
That was just superficial in the end.
Well, as for my impressions of visiting various orphanages in Russia, well.
On the outside, they acted peaceful, but behind the scenes, most of them were groups that used the chil
dren to satisfy the desires of the adults.
And the souls of the orphans trapped inside… … .
[… … Very tasty prey.]
Gulp.
The Apostle of Paradise, who slowly approached the Yangpyeong Child Protection Center, swallowed his s
aliva with a meaningful expression.
Souls with great deficiency, souls distorted by repressed desires, were the perfect material to make into
his soldiers.
Saaaah-
And following his footsteps, behind him the trees of the forest were rotting and the earth was cracking.
The thick darkness was slowly closing in to drown out the laughter of those poor souls who were pretendi
ng to be happy only on the outside.
That was when.
"Sister, look over there! The flowers are blooming again!"
In the garden in front of the building, a girl was pointing this way with her finger and smiling.
The tip of the finger was pointing to the apostle of paradise.
To be exact, the flowers of outer space that are sprouting up behind it.
On this planet, they seem to be called 'Elvenwood', but in the universe where the Apostles of Paradise liv
ed, these entities were classified as 'predatory plants'.
Hehe.
Before he knew it, the apostle of paradise was standing in front of a girl.
The girl tilted her head at his smile.
"who are you?"
[Would you like to try this?]
"… … ?"
Instead of answering, the apostle of paradise offered the girl a delicious red fruit.
* * *
Yangpyeong.
A natural wonderland of green grass and misty mist.
There was a man sitting on the steep cliff with his eyes closed.
An old man in his twenties.
The man with grey hair had fist-sized blue jewels embedded all over his body.
Foreign correspondent seat.
The alien energy that rose from those jewels, which contained highly compressed mana from the outer sp
ace, was both a curse and a blessing to this man.
Using this as a medium, he was able to use the mana flowing in from outer space, but in return, the trem
endous power was eating away at his body with each passing moment.
Tsk-tsk- tsk.
Pressure of enormous dimensions.
Because of that, his skin and muscles were in danger of being torn to pieces at any moment.
The numerous alien stones implanted in his body are writhing in an attempt to create dimensional cracks i
n his body.
but....
'Hold on.'
I had to hold on.
This power was ultimately a power that had been forcibly transplanted into him, so it was also his job to s
uppress the cracks from widening.
Phew-
Muscles that were literally swollen to the point of tearing apart.
A body that is ridiculously developed for someone who is old.
Above all, he had the skill to handle this heterogeneous energy so skillfully that he was far too skilled for a
human.
Yes, that's right.
He was skilled.
Inhumanely.
There was a reason why this was possible.
Because this wasn't the first time.
It was the first time he had ever taken in such an enormous amount of energy that a human could not ha
ndle.
No, at one time rather… … .
Even more absurd powers had to be forced into this wretched body.
To protect my son.
Even risking one's life.
'… … So I can do it this time too.'
Seong Il-hwan gritted his teeth.
The bowl is sufficient.
I know the trick.
All I'm doing now is retracing the difficult path I've taken in the past.
The pain experienced in the process was inevitable, but theoretically it was clearly possible.
'I will definitely do it.'
Gooooo-
Void Gate.
Right behind him, where he was sitting, a door leading to a rift between dimensions was open.
He also knew that if he just took one step beyond that, the pain that was tearing him apart would disappe
ar like melting snow.
Because you are safe within the dimensional gap.
But before taking that one step, the process of feeling all this pressure and pain all over my body was a ki
nd of training.
Enduring pain and building physical endurance.
Overworking your body until your muscles tear.
Tormenting the soul until the vessel of mana is on the verge of breaking.
After enduring and enduring like that, growing step by step.
In short, it's weight training.
Tsk tsk- Phew!
Crunch! Crunch!
In this way, Seong Il-hwan deliberately drew the mana of the outer universe into his body, abusing his o
wn body.
Of course, all of this is a secret from the family.
If they found out that I was doing something so dangerous, they would definitely try to stop me.
But I had to do it anyway.
The war is over, but new enemies have emerged.
Those enemies were much stronger than before.
And just like then, his son was still fighting all those enemies alone.
To protect everyone.
… … Of course, I know that too.
The guy is all grown up now.
It's so disappointing how big it became.
To the point where he no longer needs any help or advice from his father.
My son has now grown into a respectable adult.
Besides, that guy has already grown up so much and become a father of a child.
but.
Even so, what difference does it make?
Nevertheless, the guy was still his son.
'I am a father.'
No matter how well-mannered a son may be, where in the world would there be a father who would just
sit back and watch his son risk his life fighting?
If the guy fights to save the world.
'… … I protect my son.'
As always.
Even if it means risking one's life.
'So, I must... ...make this power mine.'
Flash!
That was when.
Seong Il-hwan, who was quietly meditating in front of the Void Gate, suddenly opened his eyes.
"...hmm?"
Something has changed.
The nature of the air has changed.
Somewhere beyond the fog.
I could feel the dimensional walls rippling against my skin.
It's not a skill or anything, it's an instinctive feeling.
The foreign stone embedded in his body was humming.
Was howling.
"What is this?"
Seong Il-hwan felt the changes taking place in his body and stared beyond the mist with a fearful express
ion.
It was a feeling that suddenly popped up from somewhere beyond, an ominous yet familiar sensation.
"Who is it? Who has appeared?"
I don't know the identity.
But I could guarantee it one hundred percent.
Whatever its identity, the fact that the Foreign Corridor is so happy tells me that it is definitely not on the
human side.
"I will go and find it for you."
The worries were short.
Seong Il-hwan jumped down the cliff without hesitation.