Chapter 461
In the open area where the campfire flames were rising, the cry of the White Reaper echoed softly.
Amid the warm glow of the fire, the two Golden Reapers stood facing each other with serious expressions.
One was an entirely ordinary Golden Reaper, with no unusual features.
The other, however, was a Golden Halo Reaper, its ethereal form glowing faintly behind it like a shadow.
But the size of the ethereal form, which had been much larger than the main Golden Reaper, had shrunk down to barely the size of the Golden Reaper’s head.
When the Golden Halo Reaper returned the Circulation Halo contained within its ethereal form to its mother, it immediately shrank down to the size of the Golden Reaper’s head.
Around the two Golden Reapers, numerous Mini Reapers watched, and among the onlookers, a Colored Reaper stepped forward.
Kkyu!
The signal of the Colored Reaper echoed through the air, and in that moment, the two Golden Reapers, who had been in a standoff, assumed fighting stances and faced each other.
Then, as though they were martial artists who had spent years honing their combat skills, they raised their hands and swiftly rushed towards one another with agile movements.
The first strike came from the Golden Halo Reaper.
The Golden Halo Reaper’s fist flew towards the opponent’s plump cheek, landing several rapid blows.
But the ordinary Golden Reaper was no slouch.
With quick reflexes, the Golden Reaper tilted its head to dodge the incoming attack, then, with a flashy spin, launched a sharp kick aimed at the top.
Thud, thud! The repeated strikes landed on the opponent’s round belly and cheeks!
A spinning, rotating kick aiming for the top of the opponent’s head!
The movements of the two Golden Reapers were like a dance.
But their faces remained serious.
It was as though they were battling harmful objects, trying not to leave even the smallest opening.
At first, it seemed like their skill levels were evenly matched.
They blocked each other’s attacks and countered with such precision that it looked like they were mirrored reflections.
However, the intense battle came to an unexpected end.
It was the moment when the Golden Halo Reaper attempted a kick aimed at its opponent’s head.
The ordinary Golden Reaper didn’t miss that opening and quickly lowered its body, executing a perfectly timed tackle.
‘Ugh!’
With a hopeless expression, the Golden Halo Reaper’s body was lifted into the air.
The next moment, the Golden Halo Reaper was sprawled on the ground, and the ordinary Golden Reaper swiftly took position and began pounding with tiny fists.
Thud, thud.
The relentless punches landed on the plump cheeks.
The Golden Halo Reaper tried to twist its body and escape while defending, but it couldn’t manage to break free.
Kkyu!
At that moment, the referee, the Colored Reaper, stepped between the two Golden Reapers, calling an end to the match.
As the match ended, the Golden Halo Reaper lay on the ground with a deeply disappointed expression.
It had been clear from the start that there was a slight skill gap between them, but even after evolving into a special Golden Reaper, it couldn’t win.
Sigh.
It was an expected outcome.
The Golden Halo Reaper’s evolution had been solely to master the Halo perfectly.
Unlike other special Golden Reapers, the evolution of the Golden Halo Reaper didn’t enhance basic combat skills or physical size.
As the campfire continued to burn, the defeated Golden Halo Reaper lay next to the Purple Girl, gazing up at the sky.
After a long time of seemingly lifeless sleep, a small groan escaped from the Purple Girl’s lips.
“Mmm…”
Her long eyelashes fluttered, and slowly her eyelids opened.
The Purple Girl’s eyes were met with an unfamiliar scene.
Guardians, their bodies burning in the large flames.
The surrounding area was filled with magical books, identical to the golden ones, bouncing around with excited expressions.
And a sweet fragrance filled the air.
It was a scene that made no sense at all, completely unrelated to what had happened before she lost consciousness.
In that moment, the Golden Halo Reaper, who had been lying on the ground, noticed the Purple Girl waking up and rushed to her side.
The brightly colored stone Reapers and the Master Reaper, who had been circling around her, cautiously took a step closer to the Purple Girl.
The Reapers seemed to be unsure, as if thinking, “What if the Purple Girl doesn’t remember and dislikes us?”
The Purple Girl, who had just woken up, looked a little tired, but she appeared healthy.
The sad expression that had once caused Master Reaper so much heartache was gone, replaced by the vibrant look of the girl from the days when the floating city shone brightly.
Her skin, with a healthy glow, shimmered like dewdrops on flower petals.
Master Reaper, watching this, smiled with deep relief.
The Purple Girl, still in the haze of waking up, had a confused expression, as though she were still in a dream.
She carefully peeled the Golden Halo Reaper off her cheek, placed it in her palm, and looked at it.
“I was sure I died with Master…”
The girl muttered in a confused voice, then looked around once more.
And then, in that moment, the girl’s eyes met the Master Reaper and the brightly colored stone Reapers, who were keeping a careful distance.
Suddenly, like a dam breaking, tears began to pour from her eyes.
“You were all here…”
Without hesitation, the girl approached and embraced the Master Reaper.
Ignoring the cold, hard surface of the stone Reapers, she sobbed loudly.
Her tears streamed down the stone Reaper’s surface.
“I’m sorry I forgot you.”
With a trembling voice, the girl stopped for a moment, then added in a smaller voice.
“I’m sorry for being weak.”
The Golden Halo Reaper smiled, looking at the scene, with a relieved expression.
The Purple Girl, noticing the Golden Halo Reaper, reached out and drew it into her embrace.
“I’m really glad, everyone.”
Finally, the girl closed her eyes and, as if whispering a secret, murmured softly to the Golden Halo Reaper in her arms.
“This is the scent of a true friend. It’s warm like the sun… and the scent fills the air just by being near.”
With that, the girl smiled brightly and, exhausted from crying, peacefully fell asleep.
This sleep was no longer an escape full of pain and wounds, but a peaceful and sweet rest.
Her expression held true happiness, something that hadn’t been seen for a long time.
The festival ended, and I walked away from the campfire that still burned faintly, starting to look around.
Thud, thud.
The Black Planet, which had once been filled with Evolution Liquid, now showed no sign of it.
‘The Evolution Liquid is all gone.’
The ground looked slightly reddish and polluted, but there was no trace of the liquid.
Perhaps the Shark Foreign News absorbed it all with its ‘power.’
Conceptually, it was absorbed, so now the Black Planet should be safe.
For some reason, I couldn’t stop smiling.
The Black Planet continued to approach Earth, and the Evolution Liquid that had been on it surely would have caused huge problems.
But it was a relief, even though I knew it would be troublesome to handle.
With that troublesome issue gone, it was like a new playground had appeared.
A world full of strange alchemy!
Various artifacts buried in Evolution Liquid!
I was holding a bunch of fish-shaped bread in my arms as I walked around, and behind me, Golden Reapers, holding their own fish-shaped breads, followed closely.
When I turned to look down at them, the leading Golden Reaper sent me a bright expression with a silent message.
‘Mom, how amazing!’
Then, it handed me the fish-shaped bread it had been holding.
‘What’s so amazing about this identical fish-shaped bread?’
I picked up the fish-shaped bread that the Golden Reaper had offered and ate it.
‘!’
Then, the unique taste of the Gray Reaper Pudding spread in my mouth.
The texture of the bread and the red bean paste was the same, but strangely, the taste was different.
Why did this fish-shaped bread taste different?
‘Amazing!’
With that expression, the Golden Reaper, who had handed me the bread, laughed happily.
Then, as if sharing a huge secret, it leaned close to my ear and whispered.
If you give pudding to the fish-shaped bread, the fish will eat the pudding, and it will turn into a pudding-flavored fish-shaped bread.
‘!!! This fish-shaped bread could move?’
I thought it was just a real fish-shaped bread since it didn’t struggle like the Reapers or other snacks…
‘I’ll make it taste like roasted meat!’
‘The fish-shaped bread that humans love!’
Then, the Golden Reaper dreamed big about making fish-shaped bread that tasted like roasted meat.
Hmm, I don’t think people would like that…
Ugh, roasted meat-flavored fish-shaped bread? Just imagining it feels strange.
But I didn’t tell the Golden Reaper that, just to avoid disappointing it.
Hehe.
As I secretly smiled inside, I walked down the strangely high path.
At the end of the path, there stood a city that seemed straight out of a fantasy world, and beside it, a massive, fallen corpse that could match its size.
I approached the city, gazing at the grand architecture, a sight so out of place yet so familiar. The towering spires and vast gates beckoned, as if they had been waiting for this moment, for this reunion with the new world that had emerged.
As I neared, the sense of something ancient but powerful filled the air. The giant corpse beside the city seemed as if it had once belonged to a being of immense power, now lying still in the dirt. Its size dwarfed the city itself, and the eerie stillness that surrounded it felt like a memory of ages past.
For a moment, I paused, taking it all in—the mysterious city, the giant fallen figure, and the very essence of the Black Planet that had now reshaped itself. The once perilous atmosphere had softened into something new, something alive.
As I continued forward, the fish-shaped bread still in my hand, I couldn’t help but wonder about the possibilities that awaited in this new world.
The once chaotic and dangerous environment, full of threats and mystery, had become a place where even moments of sweetness, like the odd fish-shaped bread, had a place.
The strange alchemy that filled the world, the echoes of ancient powers, and the playful pranks of the Mini Reapers all combined to form a reality that was as unpredictable as it was magical.
And so, I walked, with the Golden Reapers and the mysterious city at my back, knowing that the journey was far from over.
