The Nebula’s Civilization

In the depths of the Demon World, the first imagery world, Aldin hurriedly limped with a sprained leg, her broken wrist dangling.

The spirits of demonic magic possessed undeniable power, but when Aldin disappeared, they were left bewildered, holding strips of red velvet. They were unaware that Aldin had moved through a hidden door in the depths of the Demon World. The splendor of the red velvet had stolen their attention.

‘Morons.’

Aldin concentrated her consciousness to bear the pain. As the pain from the second and third imagery worlds overlapped, Aldin felt her cognitive abilities flickering on and off.

But eventually, Aldin reached her destination, where she would complete her task. Aldin entered the Present Hall of the museum. Her mission was simple—not to oppose Sung-Woon. The job given by Bifnen was to make the other three players Fall.

There would be an immediate impact on the system, but Aldin could fix it by herself, which could wait until after all the players were eliminated.

Aldin entered the central exhibition hall of the Present Hall. The name of the exhibition hall was Myriad Demons Wriggle. Aldin had anticipated that Bifnen would unleash the Myriad Demons. In the worst-case scenario, Bifnen would use every weapon without hesitation.

Aldin was surprised after entering the exhibition hall, but for a different reason.

‘Hegemonia… Were you this good?’

The exhibition hall was a giant diorama, tens of meters wide. The floor was made of resin, forming an ocean, with twenty-two Sky Castles hanging by threads from above, each owned by an old god. One of the Sky Castles was large enough for Aldin to climb on, while most were occupied by the three players and the approaching Starkeeper and imperial aircraft carriers.

What was most impressive was the scenery above. There were Demons pouring down, and Hegemonia fighting them. Hegemonia had passed the Hierophany stage and, through accumulating entropy, built up enough stacks to take on the form of an Incarnation.

As a living death, embodying war itself, Hegemonia stood on two Sky Castles, yanking off the head of a goat-headed Demon along with its spine with her hands and crushing a large and ominous golden chariot, drawn by long-legged bizarre animals, with the one foot.

Below, the other two players were advancing with the apostles of the Pantheon and Hegemonia.

Aldin looked at the uppermost Sky Castle. Bifnen stood motionless, expression stern.

‘I should hurry.’

Aldin glanced back and, seeing no one coming after her, felt relieved. Then, she circled the exhibition hall and dragged out a ladder from a temporary storage between fake walls.

Aldin thought about Sung-Woon.

‘Prideful for no reason. Instead of trying to extract secrets from me at the last moment, you should have talked after winning.’

Aldin had thought that Sung-Woon would make a mistake someday. After all, Sung-Woon was human. Especially since the being he had to kill had the face of his already deceased sister, a mistake was inevitable.

Aldin hadn’t given up until the very last moment, nor did she intend to. Everything was a game. Aldin had no intention of accepting an easy play like being persuaded.

Of course, Sung-Woon's inferences were all correct.

‘If Nebula had killed me, it would have been a fight I won.’

Aldin had arranged the players against the old gods, and she had almost succeeded. But Sung-Woon failed to kill her. Aldin was still a player, yet also remained a pawn of the old gods.

Aldin was greatly disappointed in Sung-Woon, but at the same time, she saw another future.

‘It can be changed.’

70,000 years, and then another 40,000 years. Over time, change inevitably occurred. Aldin believed in this potential for change.

‘Someday, I'll be able to go back.’

Ultimately, what consoled Aldin were memories of the past. She still remembered when the system was first created. A festival lasting over a hundred years took place. Endless cheers and joy erupted from every city, and those who had passed away met again within the system. Death truly disappeared, and everyone lived in happiness.

For another thousand years, there was no conflict worth mentioning. The Pain Sect sealed all their knowledge until they would unseal it ten thousand years later. Aldin remembered Bifnen swearing never to use magic for pain again.

The Returner and Aldin danced hand in hand. Everyone truly loved each other. Although these memories being recalled could be due to the old gods tampering and readjusting Aldin's brain, she had now become such a being. Aldin couldn't escape from the memories.

‘It's all over.’

Aldin placed the ladder against a Sky Castle and climbed up step by step. It wasn't easy due to her broken wrist and sprained leg, but Aldin was accustomed to pain.

On the swaying Sky Castle, Aldin calmly pulled up the ladder again and used it as a bridge to the next Sky Castle. The first to Fall was Bolt. The method for making them Fall was simple. Aldin picked up Bolt, who was shooting flames, and flung them to the ground.

The second to fall was Chistka. Aldin was taken aback by the unexpected weight of the tank, but she successfully dropped it off the Sky Castle using her good leg.

Aldin then attempted risky stunts to reach the last one, Hegemonia. The ladder continued to sway between Sky Castles, and Aldin had to pause several times to endure the pain as she climbed. Eventually, Aldin reached the third Sky Castle from the top, where Hegemonia was.

‘You really almost succeeded, didn't you?’

Aldin thought that no old god could have opposed the Myriad Demons to this extent. This god of war had defeated the Demons purely with pure force. Perhaps Hegemonia had the ability to stop the Myriad Demons.

‘...If only you weren’t to Fall.’

It would take time, but once the system was restored, the Myriad Demons would be resealed. There would be some complications with causality, but as always, the same method could be used.

Aldin stood in front of Hegemonia’s Incarnation. This Incarnation was already taller than Aldin, making it more difficult to make her Fall than the previous two gods. Aldin hugged Hegemonia and tried shaking her. Suddenly, Hegemonia's arm swayed and touched Aldin. Despite knowing that actions in the depths of the Demon World were one-sided, Aldin felt a slight fear.

‘It's time to stop and Fall.’

Aldin pushed hard against Hegemonia, using her body weight. In an instant, Hegemonia, who had been holding on, toppled backward. First, the Demon ornaments fell beneath the Sky Castle, followed by Hegemonia’s sculpture, and then Aldin, who had been holding onto the sculpture, fell after it.

***

Eventually, the three gods had Fallen. Since they had no promise of a sanctuary, they were literally ejected from their own divinity. The ejected gods began to fall beneath the Sky Castle.

Vasen Lak Orazen realized that the worst possible scenario had occurred, but he was prepared.

"Aruna! Laitla!"

The pre-appointed beings moved quickly. Apostle of the Pantheon, Aruna, successfully caught Bolt, and the Apostle of the Angry One, Laitla, caught Chistka and Hegemonia without issue.

While momentarily withdrawing the apostles, Vasen deployed the imperial air power against the Myriad Demons.

Dordol's expression hardened. Vasen wanted to seem confident, but no jokes came to mind. The despair was greater because the Angry One had almost succeeded, and a miracle was almost within reach.

Vasen had already determined that the operation was impossible with only the apostles.

‘We can retreat and wage a delaying battle. The Empire still has plenty of nuclear weapons. But whether such attacks would be effective against that Sky Castle is unknown, and continuing such attacks within the atmosphere wouldn't be much different from unleashing the Myriad Demons.’

Vasen excluded even the slightest possibility of a miracle and began to map out the next strategy. However, a miracle did happen.

***

-My friend, stop crying.

-But...

-Now stop crying and do what we must do.

-But...

Jeol Woo-Bi sniffled.

The progenitor of the Vampires, wearing the leather of their friends, had lots of tears.

Using some of the remaining energy of the second moon, the evil gods released two of their kind, Jeol Woo-Bi and Bwel, from their sealed state. Freed from being vassals, Jeol Woo-Bi and Bwel heard about the situation from Sha-Cha, Jeolyo, and Dide.

Bwel agreed to Sha-Cha's request, but Jeol Woo-Bi refused, so Sha-Cha had to persuade them. Therefore, Sha-Cha showed them the Empire through the eyes of the second moon, as well as the numerous Vampires living in the Empire and the treatment of other evil gods' species. Finally, Sha-Cha showed them the image of a Vampire in a spacesuit on the moon. Eventually, Jeol Woo-Bi cried.

Jeol Woo-Bi murmured tearfully,

-Muel?

Sha-Cha decided not to press Jeol Woo-Bi further as they continued to say,

-My friend, how can I not cry when the name of my love is still being passed on? And how can my heart not ache when she bravely inhabits such a barren land, trusting in those crude machines?

The other evil gods didn’t say anything. They all understood Jeol Woo-Bi's feelings. Even during the 40,000 years of suffering, there was something they hadn't lost.

Sha-Cha said,

-...So, have you changed your mind?

Jeol Woo-Bi wiped their face under the leather.

-...Of course. They too were deceived into suffering, that’s unacceptable.

-Just like us.

-Yes. Like us.

The reason the evil gods decisively lost in the war against the old gods was that the old gods feigned kindness and ultimately betrayed them. The old gods talked about coexistence but never intended to accept the evil gods and their species from the beginning.

After the betrayal, the evil gods believed that would always be the case. That living in harmony with all species was impossible. But the Empire was defying all those negative expectations.

Then Dide worriedly said,

-Even now, it's okay to refuse Sha-Cha's request. The Myriad Demons are infinite, and fighting them will surely lead to death.

However, no evil god responded to those words.

Sha-Cha said on the second moon,

-It's okay to refuse. But if you do, I will ask you, my long-time friends again.

Sha-Cha looked down at Avartin. Beside them stood four other evil gods.

Sha-Cha continued,

-When we decided to leave like cowards, there were those who agreed to fight to the very end for our children in our place. They have taken care of our children, so they are our new friends.

Everyone silently agreed.

-We have been living too long, tediously, always striving for simple survival. We thought surviving was the best we could do, so we constantly caused pain to our children and never sacrificed ourselves.

The evil gods felt pain in their hearts. Sha-Cha's words weighed heavily on them.

-So, I ask, my long-time friends.

Sha-Cha continued,

-Let's die today. For our children and our new friends, let's not live a cowardly life anymore.

No one countered Sha-Cha’s words. The evil gods decided to die. The second moon, Loom, moved once again.

Dide said,

-The old gods will receive the karma they created.

Loom took off the invisible cloak that had been hiding it. The massive shadow of the second moon, now close to the stratosphere, covered the second Sky Castle.

Dide called for Loom's most fearsome weapon,

-Pulverizer...activate.

Gravitons poured down upon the Sky Castle bursting with Myriad Demons.