Chapter 518
The alchemist of the tower was having a dream.
It was a dream of an important memory, deeply embedded in her soul.
In the dream, she was standing by the window in the fading light of her laboratory, gazing at the traces of the distant city.
The Evolution Liquid was slowly consuming the city, spreading like ink on a page.
The sky had already been overtaken by darkness, and only the faint light of the moon illuminated the laboratory.
Her brown hair fluttered in the breeze as she stood by the window, her eyes filled with deep contemplation.
In her hand was the Halo she had received from the Blue Girl, emitting a faint glow.
“Is this really alright…?”
She murmured quietly.
Other alchemists would never have made this choice.
They were all working on grander plans.
Plans to prevent the world’s destruction and reach the gods.
In the face of such plans, the lives of individuals were merely tiny dots in a much larger picture.
But she was different.
She looked at the mirrors hanging on the walls of the laboratory.
In the mirrors, as if they were fragments of daily life, countless people were alive and breathing.
Merchants buying and selling in the market.
Children studying in the academy.
People laughing and chatting in the streets.
Numerous buildings reflecting history and culture.
And all of it was slowly disappearing, one by one, due to the Evolution Liquid.
The alchemist of the tower wanted to save humanity.
She wanted to save the people who had lived and grown in this world, along with the culture they had built.
So she decided to build the tower.
A massive tower that could protect people from the Evolution Liquid, one that could preserve civilization and knowledge.
Perhaps this was the most un-alchemist-like choice she could have made.
But her mind was already made up.
If things continued this way, even if the destruction ended, everything would be destroyed.
No, the truth was, it wasn’t for some grand reason.
She simply wanted to save those she could reach.
She only wished that tragedies wouldn’t unfold in front of her anymore.
“Someone has to do it.”
She turned away from the window and spread out the blueprints on her desk.
The design for the colossal tower was drawn there.
A space where people could live.
A space where food could be grown.
A space where knowledge could be preserved.
Everything about the tower, from its ability to continue to grow, was meticulously planned.
“As the headmaster said, until the destruction ends, or until an alchemist finds a solution… we will endure.”
As she said this, she turned her gaze to see a palm-sized spider-shaped guardian beside the blueprint. It let out a small cry.
Kyu.
The moonlight illuminated her face.
There was no hesitation in her expression anymore. Only a firm resolution.
She knew.
This was not the perfect solution.
Believing that alchemy could be eternal in a world where even gods were not, was as foolish as anything.
But at least, for now, she could protect those in front of her.
Their lives, their culture, everything they had built.
No, she desperately wished to protect it all.
In the space filled with endless darkness, another candle began to burn.
As the golden flame ignited, it added a new light, revealing the figure of a woman sitting in the previously empty chair.
Her brown bobbed hair fluttered as she awoke, her gaze faintly looking around, as if disoriented between reality and the dream world.
Blinking a few times as if trying to adjust, she soon seemed to realize the situation she was in.
Her face turned pale.
“In the end… I failed.”
The alchemist with brown hair was engulfed in deep despair, lowering her head toward the round table.
Thud.
The sound of her forehead hitting the solid marble table echoed in the empty space.
The Blue Girl, who had been watching her dejection, gently approached and softly placed her hand on the alchemist’s shoulder.
She slowly helped her up and began to speak in an absurd tone.
“No. You didn’t fail. The original failed… We are the remnants!”
The Blue Girl said this with a bright smile.
Of course, the words didn’t offer much comfort to the alchemist of the tower.
The fact that her wish to save countless people remained unfulfilled didn’t change.
However, perhaps because they were connected as remnants of the same round table, the warmth of the Blue Girl’s comforting emotions helped her calm down a little.
The alchemist suddenly realized that she had misunderstood the Blue Girl.
Since the first time they met at the academy, she had always thought of the Blue Girl as an arrogant child who liked to boast about her genius.
The Blue Girl always said she was a genius or the greatest alchemist, so it was likely that many people, like the alchemist of the tower, saw her that way.
But now, through the emotions shared as remnants, the sincerity of the girl was completely different from the arrogance on the surface.
The alchemist reflected on her own prejudice.
“She had a bit of a social problem, but she was a warm-hearted child after all…”
Probably only the Blue Girl’s master, who had spent a long time with her, truly knew her real nature.
It was only now, as a connected remnant, that the alchemist realized it.
Just as the alchemist was adjusting her perception of the Blue Girl, a heavy vibration echoed through the dark space.
It felt as if a massive presence was waking up or the foundation of the world itself was shaking, and the entire space began to tremble.
Instinctively, the alchemist tensed up.
Her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, but in the deep darkness, she couldn’t make out anything.
Only the white marble round table and the candles burning upon it faintly revealed the presence.
With a sense of unease, she turned her gaze back to the round table, where the Blue Girl was seen making something.
From her fingertips, a form was slowly taking shape— it was none other than a guardian.
“A guardian…?”
It was a standard-sized guardian, and a tiny one at that.
But what was strange was the colors of the guardian.
Black and gray.
Both were colors rarely seen in guardians.
Watching this strange sight, the Contracted Tome, which had remained silent until now, spoke in a heavy voice.
“Is that what you’ve made to represent the flesh of the awakened god and the god you created? Quite a hopeless disparity.”
The Blue Girl nodded silently after hearing those words.
The alchemist of the tower, observing the scene, was filled with questions.
Wasn’t this round table supposed to summon only when the “failure conditions” set by the eight individuals, aside from the Contracted Tome, were met?
And yet, the Blue Girl’s god existed?
As the alchemist watched the scene unfold, the massive black Reaper was viciously tearing apart the gray Reaper.
As the Black Giant appeared on its own, I sent all of the Attachment Humans from the Mini Reapers to the Sehee Research Institute’s courtyard.
It was only natural, as the Mini Reapers would be saddened if the Attachment Humans were injured during a fight.
After securing the humans in a safe place, I faced the Black Giant with a fierce expression.
The Black Giant slowly approached me.
There was no clear consciousness in its movements, but the hostility emanating from its massive body was unmistakable.
Why was it choosing to be hostile toward me, despite its lack of awareness?
As that light question flickered in my mind, the Mini Reapers looked between the Black Giant and me, their small faces showing fierce expressions.
‘Fake mother!’
The children’s will echoed across the space.
I could understand the Mini Reapers’ reaction to me.
But the Black Reapers showing the same response was unexpected.
The Black Reapers seemed closer to the offspring of the Black Giant.
What was it that made the Mini Reapers judge me as ‘mother’?
Soul? Flesh? Or something more fundamental?
My guess was that it had something to do with the Halo of Death or an ability related to yearning.
Though, it could very well be something entirely different from my expectations.
There was no more time to think.
I summoned the Hug Reaper, and fused all the Golden Reapers within my line of sight.
‘Hug… Hug!’
The Hug Reaper had been restless since seeing the Black Giant, but it tightly closed its eyes and activated the Fusion Halo.
In an instant, I transformed into a Golden-Grey Reaper, even larger than the Black Giant, still locking my gaze on the approaching creature.
‘Giant mother!’
‘Mother is bigger!’
The Mini Reapers cheered for my size, their eyes shining with excitement.
Had they felt the distance was close enough?
The Black Giant raised its long arm and began swinging it toward me.
The trajectory appeared slow at first glance.
But the space beneath its swing shattered mercilessly.
The mere act of its existence seemed to have the power to warp time and space.
This power was similar to that of the Black Hooded Reaper, though on a much grander scale.
‘I’m used to such attacks!’
I covered myself with the Circulation Halo, then blocked the Black Giant’s claws with one hand, smiling confidently.
I knew this attack would come.
I had encountered the corpse of the Black Giant multiple times.
I used all the techniques I had at my disposal to perfectly block the predictable strike.
The guard from the Golden Reaper’s martial arts, which specializes in body control.
The Circulation Halo that deflects incoming spatial distortions.
With that, I concentrated the incoming power into my other fist.
Then I gathered the firewood in my fist and sent it hurtling toward the Black Giant’s torso.
Aside from the Halo of Death, this was the strongest strike I could deliver.
As my fist swung, the Mini Reapers followed my posture, releasing their will.
‘Giant mother punch!’
‘Reaver Blow!’
A golden flash filled the world.
The light was so intense it obscured everything.
With such power, I could easily knock down any foreign entity.
No, with the added strength of the Black Giant, this blow could even defeat a Red Foreign Entity with a single strike!
With the fusion of the Golden Reapers, my punch was perfect, and I had the size to exceed the Black Giant’s.
But just before the flash cleared, an unexpected pain surged through me.
‘Gahh!’
My extended arm ached terribly.
And when my vision cleared, an unbelievable sight unfolded.
The Black Giant stood unfazed, casually ripping off my arm and gnashing it in its teeth.
Perhaps realizing it couldn’t eat it, it tossed my arm to the ground.
‘!!!’
The Golden Reapers that had formed my arm couldn’t withstand the shock and lost consciousness, scattering to the floor.
I stood there, having lost one of my arms, facing the greatest adversary I had ever encountered: the Black Giant.
