Lou and El had been Gi-Gyu’s swords for a long time. And even without them, he could use Death or sorcerous energy to create a sword, but Gi-Gyu chose not to do this.

Brun’s Dragon Hunter mode didn’t require a sword. The gauntlet, Oberon’s evolved form, had claws that resembled wolf claws and were sharper than any sword. Moreover, this form gave Gi-Gyu some new and unique powers.

‘And I finally get to try them out.’ Gi-Gyu grinned and clawed at the giant. And with his other claw, he shredded the stomach of a human about to attack him from behind. It turned out that following the temple’s transformation, several dozens of enemy humans and alien species had also appeared, apart from the giant.

‘And they are all rulers,’ Gi-Gyu thought as he raised his hand, freeing his claw from the bloody mess that was his human enemy’s stomach now. Suddenly, he felt a zap on his back. His last attack had done real damage to the giant; when Gi-Gyu turned around, he saw crimson electric arcs dancing around and on the giant’s equally giant hammer.

“Is this the power of the rulers?” Gi-Gyu wondered. Everyone who had appeared after the temple’s transformation was a ruler. They had died soon after the construction of Babel. The Tower had absorbed them; now, they seemingly worked as gatekeepers.

Gi-Gyu took care of the most powerful of them while the other members of his group dealt with the rest. Thankfully, no one in Gi-Gyu’s group was weak enough to be overwhelmed by this situation. The rulers were powerful and had vicious, unique powers, but Gi-Gyu’s creatures were no amateurs either.

“Do they think we’re newbies or something?” Go Hyung-Chul shouted in glee as he stretched his shadow. He seemed happy to have a real chance to fight. Their enemies, covered with Go Hyung-Chul’s shadow, began melting as if hit by acid rain.

“Hmph!” Go Hyung-Chul rubbed his nose smugly. Gi-Gyu watched him and grinned in amusement.

Meanwhile, the crimson electric arcs on the giant’s hammer had begun dancing even more wildly.

‘I should stop that.’ Gi-Gyu decided to disconnect the current’s power source before the giant made the hammer explode. ‘And I’ll give it back to him then.’ 

Brun, embedded in Gi-Gyu’s Dragon Hunter armor, asked.

-Are you going to try it?

Brun sounded playful, but Gi-Gyu could sense that she was becoming nervous.

“Yeah, I’ll have to try this skill here to learn if I can use it later too,” Gi-Gyu replied. This skill had been with him for a long time and had protected him when he was weak. He hadn’t used this skill much since he and Brun became stronger.

Gi-Gyu decided that this was a perfect time.

“Kwerrrrk!” The giant holding the hammer roared. It couldn’t speak, probably because its mind wasn’t that advanced. Finally, it brought down the hammer on Gi-Gyu. The bloody current followed its trajectory, leaving blood droplets in its wake.

As if time had stopped, Gi-Gyu silently and inertly watched the hammer become bigger and bigger in his field of view. Finally, the hammer, covered with crimson arcs, touched Gi-Gyu’s chest.

At that very moment, Brun and Gi-Gyu shouted together.

-Reflect!

“Reflect!”

“...?” The giant looked around in confusion. The others were still fighting fiercely, yet the giant felt that time had stopped only for him. He tried to move his hand, but it was useless. The hammer, still in contact with Gi-Gyu’s chest, also refused to move. The giant tried harder to move his hands, but he was stuck.

A slow smile slowly spread on Gi-Gyu’s lips.

“Kwerrrrk!” The giant screamed as time suddenly flowed backward. And with that, the crimson electric arcs traveled back from the hammer and into the giant. Before long, the air was filled with a fetid burnt smell, and smoke could be seen coming out of the giant’s head.

If it were just an electric shock, the giant would have suffered, but not much.

“But I’m Korean, and we like to pay back with interest,” Gi-Gyu whispered with a grin. He had mixed Death into this current, and in the end, the giant collapsed.

The giant was the strongest ruler here, so when he fell, the other rulers began to panic. Of course, in a tight battle like this, distraction meant death.

“Die!” Oh Tae-Shik’s large spear pierced a ruler’s chest. Behemoth’s Thorn, Oh Tae-Shik’s favorite weapon, had evolved after he met Behemoth and undid the seal over him. The spear was like an Ego in the sense that it now had a consciousness. Also, Behemoth’s Thorn could evolve now, so Oh Tae-Shik was the strongest version of himself yet. When he shook his spear, pieces of flesh and blood fell to the ground.

“It’s done.” Oh Tae-Shik looked around to find the area gradually quiescing. Clearly, Gi-Gyu’s team had won. After killing the last of the rulers, Gi-Gyu’s creatures took a rest to recover. The rulers’ corpses slowly disappeared in front of their eyes.

Standing nearby, Gi-Gyu asked telepathically, ‘Are you guys done too?’ 

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All the rulers were dead, and the temple was gone too, yet nothing changed. This was why Gi-Gyu had asked Lou and Old Man Hwang if they had also defeated the rulers.

Lou replied,

-Done. Gosh, what a waste of energy.

After some time, Old Man Hwang answered as well.

-We… managed to win too.

Old Man Hwang’s group was the weakest of the three, but Gi-Gyu hadn’t worried because Old Man Hwang was with powerful creatures like Mammon, Paimon, and Botis.

‘But I still wish Advisor Lim Hye-Sook and Yoo-Bin were here too.’ Gi-Gyu thought to himself. Unfortunately, they had left to find Soo-Jung, and he suspected they were currently with her. Their connection was faint now, so he couldn’t communicate with or locate the two women, but he could tell they were still alive.

Gi-Gyu didn’t get much time to worry about them because Lou and Old Man Hwang announced.

-It’s finally beginning.

-Yes, I think so.

Everyone could feel the change. It was clear that the space distortion was unraveling. It had been like a barrier concealing Seoul, but now that it was disappearing, they could see things previously hidden. And once it was completely gone, they all felt some tremendous force throbbing around them.

Whoosh.

The powerful gale made many gulps loudly. Soon, incredible energies engulfed them, making them shudder. They were all powerful enough to defeat rulers, but what they felt now was beyond anything they had ever felt.

“I guess the rulers we fought just now were just appetizers.” A chilling look appeared in Tae-Shik’s eyes. Gi-Gyu had never seen such bloodthirst, determination, and violence in him before.

Go Hyung-Chul took a step forward and agreed, “I think so too.”

Tae-Shik was right. The powerful rulers they had fought seemed like bugs compared to the owners of the energies around them.

Lim Hyun-Soo and Kang Ji-Hee stepped forward as well. Lim Hyun-Soo remained quiet, but Kang Ji-Hee stammered, “I-I’m scared.”

Haures announced gallantly, “I will follow you anywhere, Master.”

Hal chimed in, “My allegiance to you is for life, Master.”

Both Fenrir and the lizardman roared in determination as well. It looked like the lizardman had befriended the wolf because they stayed close by. All these creatures stood on Gi-Gyu’s sides like they were his wings.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu exhaled deeply to shake off his anxiety. “Let’s go.”

Another gale blew past them, revealing a black hole where the temple stood before. Through it, they could see the N Seoul Tower. But unlike before, the tower looked very different. It was burning and exuding dark energy.

Gi-Gyu took a step forward, never doubting that Lou and Old Man Hwang would be headed toward it too.

“Let’s go to our final battle.” Gi-Gyu entered the black hole, and the rest followed. When everyone was inside, the black hole disappeared like it had never existed.

***

[Your choice…]

“Huh?” Gi-Gyu became confused.

[...will decide everything.]

He had crossed the black hole. Gi-Gyu had expected to find himself in the N Seoul Tower immediately; instead, he found himself surrounded by darkness. Even more surprising, he could hear Gaia’s voice.

[I\'m Gaia\'s remnant consciousness. I stayed so that I could give you this message.]

“Her consciousness?” asked Gi-Gyu.

[Your choice will decide everything. Your choice will decide the fate of this world.]

Gaia’s consciousness became quieter. And before completely disappearing, she whispered,

[I pray… that you make the decision you won’t regret…]

Fwoosh.

That dark space disappeared; next, Gi-Gyu heard several voices. He blinked his eyes as someone yelled.

“Hey…”

When Gi-Gyu didn’t respond, the same voice yelled even louder, “Hey!”

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu could see clearly again. This world looked nothing like the dark space he had been in. Very slowly, he looked around. The Seoul around him wasn’t the ruined Seoul from before—it was a Seoul that was about to end up in ruins.

“This place is…?!” Gi-Gyu murmured. The city was filled with death; it was burning down. It was as if thousands of bombs had simultaneously exploded in the city.

“What happened?” a voice asked hurriedly.

“Lou?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“Yes, I can see that you are still groggy. Dammit.”

“N-no!” Gi-Gyu shook his head. Hearing from Gaia again had come as such a big shock to him that he was stupefied. After he was completely back to normal, he exclaimed, “Lou! El! And Mr. Hwang too!”

Everyone had gathered around him. El was beaming, failing to hide her happiness, and Old Man Hwang was also grinning. Sadly, they had no time to exchange pleasantries.

“This place… What happened here?” Gi-Gyu asked. He had just crossed a dark space where he could hear Gaia’s voice. Did all of this happen while he had been stuck there?

Lou sounded nervous as he replied, “I don’t know… But…”

“I think it’s Seoul,” Old Man Hwang finished Lou’s thoughts.

“What do you mean?!” Gi-Gyu couldn’t believe what he had heard. He, of course, could see the resemblance, but that didn’t mean that this place was the real Seoul.

To confirm, Gi-Gyu released his energy all around him.

“...!” And before long, he realized that Old Man Hwang was right.

And that very moment, he heard the voice of someone he had least expected to hear from. “Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu!”

Gi-Gyu could sense countless presences, many familiar, all around him

“How did this happen…?!” Gi-Gyu realized that he wasn’t inside an artificial replica of Seoul—he was in Seoul. The Seoul on Earth where a fierce battle was underway.

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu heard an announcement from the system, which was something he had believed had disappeared.

[You have entered the 100th floor.]