Chapter 436
As the battle continued, the pungent smoke gradually dispersed, filling the air with the sweet scent of hot chocolate.
The once-ruined space seemed to transform into a mini Grim Reaper garden.
The cold stone floor, which had been shattered and crumbling, was now covered with soft, fluffy marshmallows.
Judging by the change in the surroundings, it appeared that the Gray Grim Reaper’s world was completely pushing out the world created by the Lamp Man.
For some reason, Junior 2 forgot that Detective Senior had woken up and instead inhaled deeply, staring at the incredible scene before her.
Her eyes were a mix of astonishment and confusion.
“This… this can’t be….”
A small sigh escaped her lips.
The Gray Grim Reaper, who had seemed like an unbeatable force during the battle with the Lamp Man, had vanished without a trace.
Among the objects Junior 2 knew, the most powerful being had been so easily destroyed?
“Wh-what should I do?”
She muttered, unable to believe it.
Her voice was full of bewilderment.
The worst scenario she could have never imagined was unfolding right before her.
At that moment, a rustling sound and the sound of someone rising from their seat reached her ears.
Startled, Junior 2 turned her head, and the Yellow Detective was slowly getting up.
“You don’t need to be that surprised….”
The Yellow Detective’s voice was a bit hoarse but surprisingly calm.
Distracted by the rapidly changing battle situation, Junior 2 finally remembered that Detective Senior had woken up.
Now, snapping back to reality, she realized that she had not even heard the anguished cries of the Goby, who was curled up in her arms, squirming.
Kyu-hing-hing.
The Yellow Detective, one hand pressing to his forehead, slowly surveyed his surroundings.
Though there was a hint of dizziness on his face, he soon regained his composure and pointed at something with his finger.
“The Gray Grim Reaper is still fine.”
Upon hearing this, Junior 2 immediately turned her gaze.
What she saw were the Mini Grim Reapers huddled together in a tight cluster.
They stood together, sharing warmth like penguins battling against the cold.
Seeing this sight, Junior 2 felt her heart, which had been racing, gradually calm down.
‘Mom…’
‘The enemy… is strong…’
The Mini Grim Reapers’ expressions were filled with concern, but they were far from the panicked reaction one might expect in a major crisis.
As the Gray Grim Reaper disappeared, the heavy smoke began to fill the air once again.
Through the smoke, the distortion of space could be felt.
The Lamp Man was attempting to leave with the Saint Doll.
‘Ah!’
‘The harmful object is escaping!’
At that moment, the Mini Grim Reapers rushed forward all at once.
But when the Lamp Man cast a glance, the smoke from the gas lamp swirled, sending the Mini Grim Reapers flying away.
‘Ah!’
The Mini Grim Reapers, in various colors, were helplessly knocked back, but they gritted their teeth and constantly rushed back into the fray.
However, the Mini Grim Reapers’ power was weak against the swirling smoke.
Only the Black Grim Reapers could tear through the swirling smoke, but even they were insufficient.
[Now, please come this way.]
The Lamp Man gestured, and the Saint Doll, with a resigned look, began to slowly walk.
The Mini Grim Reapers could only watch helplessly as the Lamp Man and the Saint Doll passed to the other side of the space, their faces filled with hopelessness, as if watching unreachable lollipops.
Flash.
But at that moment, a golden lightning bolt from the sky shattered the rift in space.
‘!!!’
The Mini Grim Reapers were startled and turned their heads, only to find that aurora waves were rippling once more.
And beneath that aurora, stood a towering pair of horns, a fluttering cloak in the sky, and the Golden Grim Reaper holding a brilliantly shining golden sword.
‘Hug!’
‘Thief!’
Behind it, the Hug Grim Reaper, wearing a halo on his head, shouted “Hug!”
The Hug Grim Reaper’s heart was pierced with a golden glow, allowing for a powerful Golden Grim Reaper three-part fusion.
Seeing this, the Lamp Man flicked his finger indifferently.
The smoke from the gas lamp sharpened, transforming into a massive blade that sliced through the air.
It contained the power to even cut through space, as if re-enacting the earlier strike.
‘Block it!’
‘Shield!’
‘Barrier!’
But the powerful slash was blocked by a wave of Black Grim Reapers, led by the Black-Hooded Grim Reaper.
Although the space-cutting force deeply sliced into the Black Grim Reapers’ tough skin, it couldn’t sever the whole mass of Black Grim Reapers at once.
Many of the Black Grim Reapers fell, crying out in pain, but the numbers of Black Grim Reapers were so vast that they seemed endless.
And they continued to revive.
There were five of the fiercely rotating Black Pinwheels in this place.
Instead of attacking the Lamp Man, the Purple Grim Reaper focused all efforts on replenishing the Mini Grim Reapers.
The Black Grim Reapers surged forward as a single wave toward the Lamp Man, while the Golden Grim Reaper fusion waited for an opportunity among the Black Grim Reapers.
The goal was simple.
Until Mom arrives, capture the Lamp Man!
But when the Lamp Man flicked his finger again, the gas lamp smoke solidified into a hard barrier, blocking the Mini Grim Reapers’ path.
The Mini Grim Reapers’ attacks against this barrier scattered like a mirage.
Needles made of water.
Probability manipulation to create a gap in the barrier.
Reversing time to before the barrier was created.
All of them failed.
The only effective attacks were from the Black Grim Reapers.
However, the attacks from the ordinary Black Grim Reapers were too weak to break through the smoke barrier.
The attacks of the veteran Black Grim Reapers, including the Black-Hooded Grim Reaper, were slowly dismantling the smoke barrier, but it wasn’t enough.
Even the Golden Grim Reaper’s sword strikes rained down on the smoke barrier, but the barrier remained unscathed.
‘Impossible….’
‘Mom, hurry up….’
As the feeling of helplessness spread among the Mini Grim Reapers, a brilliant light suddenly lit up the sky.
A golden glow as if the sun had risen.
And a face filled with unwavering determination.
It was the Golden Grim Reaper fusion, holding the ‘Knife’ made by the Ghost Grim Reaper.
The blade extended toward the enemy, drawing in firewood.
It was as if the Golden Aurora created from firewood was about to be absorbed entirely.
The Mini Grim Reapers, seeing this, clasped their tiny hands together in prayer, sending their wishes toward the firewood.
At that moment, the Golden Aurora shone even brighter, rippling.
‘Maaa….’
It was the combined wish of all the Mini Grim Reapers, including the Bleached Grim Reaper, who had been unable to reach the Lamp Man, merely cheering him on.
And as all the aurora was grasped by the First Sword’s hand…
The golden slash came crashing down upon the smoke barrier.
I was lying in the grass of the Mini Grim Reapers’ Valhalla, contemplating the dream that had suddenly come to mind.
It seemed quite important, yet had been pushed to the back of my memory.
Well, such serious matters were worth no more than a bowl of pudding in my mind.
‘The blue girl in the dream was making a contract.’
It was likely a contract titled ‘Contracting Magic Tome’ and ‘The Last Alchemist’s Contract’.
‘After the contract is realized, all beings born from the ‘Last Alchemist’ and its powers cannot harm the ‘Contracting Magic Tome.’‘
After collapsing from the battle with the Lamp Man, what suddenly came to mind was that clause: “Cannot harm.”
The current situation, where no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t touch a single hair of the Lamp Man, seemed eerily similar to that clause.
‘Could it be…?’
I wasn’t stupid, so I had already noticed there was some kind of connection between me and the blue girl.
And the conclusion that emerged from the current situation was simple.
Either I was an object created by the “Blue Girl” or…
Perhaps I was the “Blue Girl” herself.
There were odd points, but the hypothesis that best explained the current situation was that one.
And looking at the lead dolls found in the Blue Girl’s workshop, at least the body of the Gray Grim Reaper seemed to have been made by the Blue Girl.
It was clear from the physical evidence.
As soon as I thought that this situation was somehow tied to a contract, a report I had seen while breaking the lamp suddenly came to mind.
‘The Lamp Man is a being bound by a contract.’
Now that I thought about it, why had the Lamp Man almost never attacked?
His counterattacks seemed almost identical to the attacks I had made.
It was as if he could only counterattack as much as I attacked.
Actually, it was strange.
Despite being incredibly strong, with powerful subordinates like the Lamps, why was he going through such a tedious method of killing humans using a contract?
It would be far more threatening if the Lamps simply attacked people with knives.
If that many Lamps attacked humans simultaneously, the Golden Grim Reaper’s eyes would turn red, and he would cause damage comparable to a direct assault.
‘Bound by a contract….’
If an object like the Lamp Man, with such a level of power, was carrying such severe restrictions…
I felt like he couldn’t be killed in ordinary ways.
‘Then….’
I remembered a clause from the contract I saw in the dream.
‘After the contract is realized, if the “Contracting Magic Tome” appears before the “Last Alchemist,” the “Contracting Magic Tome” will be destroyed immediately and permanently for violating the contract.’
If I truly possessed the soul of the “Blue Girl,” and if I moved her body to meet the Lamp Man…
The Lamp Man would surely be destroyed.
Of course, there was no material proof that I was the “Blue Girl.”
But emotionally, I kept thinking that perhaps I was the “Blue Girl.”
I had a strong feeling.
The way the Lamp Man treated me.
The dream seen from the Blue Girl’s perspective.
The behavior of the White Goby and the Goby Grim Reapers.
And the objects that seemed to know me.
It seemed worth trying.
I shifted my consciousness into the Blue Girl’s corpse and stood up.
As I did, the White Gobies that had been gathered near the Blue Girl’s body scattered in all directions.
I rose in the Blue Girl’s body and let out a small sound.
“Ah, ah.”
It wasn’t my original voice, but for some reason, I felt a little happy as I made a sound after such a long time.
Hehe.
Then, I stood up from the soft bed where the Blue Girl had spent her final moments and teleported to the battlefield where the Golden Horn Grim Reaper was.
As I teleported, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘If I check the conditions for destroying the Lamp Man, wouldn’t it say ‘Contract’?’
