The saint of the God of Chaos thought.

What is that masked lunatic?

Who was he?

Where had he come from?

Instead of all those questions, only one thing came to mind.

What is he?

What, exactly, was that thing?

“Saint! In that man’s hand—!”

“T-the scripture—!”

The leadership, including the bishop, stared at the suddenly appeared masked man with expressions more confused than ever before.

It was as if they could not even see the chaos around them.

And they could not help it.

“Oh?”

The masked man grinned and said,

“So this is a scripture?”

Then he lifted one of the parchments and made as if to tear it again.

“N-no---!”

One of the high-ranking priests cried out desperately.

At that, the masked man shouted.

Boldly, without the slightest hesitation.

“Then don’t come any closer!”

Whiiii-

Wind swirled around him.

A breeze so refreshingly clear.

Like a single cool current of wind that blows under a clear sky after a typhoon has passed, wrapping around everything.

Letting that wind pour out from him, the masked man pointed.

“You, you! And all of you!”

He pointed at the Order leadership and knights who were stepping toward him, toward the grassy center of the basin where the ritual was unfolding.

“Back off! I told you not to come over here!”

Bang, bang!

He pounded on the altar as if he meant to smash it apart.

Then shouted,

“Hey! Believers!”

Those who were trying somehow to help the Order amid the confusion.

He pointed at them too, even those with strength above that of most low-ranking knights.

“If you move, I tear the scriptures.”

He made to tear one again.

“Or should I smash this altar instead?”

Bang, bang!

He stomped on the altar again.

“Y-you, you lunatic!”

Amid the believers wearing expressions so stunned and wronged they looked ready to go mad—

“Hahahahaha! So this is why people become villains! Hahahahaha!”

The masked man burst into a hearty laugh.

At that moment, the bishop hurried to the saint’s side and said,

“Saint! How can that man possibly be touching the scriptures!”

There was only one reason the saint and the Order leadership were confused right now.

“Are the scriptures not something only you and the Pope can touch!”

“No.”

The saint opened his mouth.

“No.”

He said calmly,

“The scriptures can only be touched when one possesses the Authority bestowed by the God of Chaos.”

At present, only the saint and the Pope possessed that Authority, so only they could touch the scriptures directly with their hands and remain alive.

Anyone else, the moment they touched the scripture corresponding to each Authority, would be swallowed by that Authority and meet a horrific death.

What is he?

That was why—

What is that bastard?

What kind of creature was he, to be able to touch those scriptures?

The corner of the masked man’s mouth showed again.

A grin.

The saint faltered at that smile.

But then he moved.

Sssshhhhh-

Gray wind filled the space around him.

“I will subdue him.”

The only one who could capture that man holding the scriptures was the saint himself.

At that moment, after a brief thought, the bishop urgently said,

“Saint!”

To touch a scripture meant one possessed Authority.

“If perhaps he is someone sent by ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the God of Chaos—”

“That is possible.”

But.

“Another kind of being can also touch those scriptures.”

“What?”

“There is.”

Only one.

The scriptures left behind by the ancient god, the God of Chaos.

A being that could touch them was—

“A Five-Colored-grade Wanderer.”

“!”

“And one more.”

The saint stirred the gray wind around himself more violently and carried his body within it.

To touch those scriptures, one had to possess power equivalent to Authority.

So either a Wanderer with Five-Colored-grade individuality—

“Or a god.”

Only a god bearing Authority.

“What? A god?”

Just as the bishop’s eyes widened in shock—

“Contact the Pope at once.”

The saint said that and stretched out his hand.

Sssshhhh---

The saint extended both arms.

A blade appeared in each hand.

They were not swords used by knights or swordsmen.

They were shaped more like knives used in slaughter.

Flap.

They were weapons that did not suit his wide, flowing priestly robes at all.

But the moment a strange gray haze rose in the saint’s gray eyes—

And the eyes containing Fear of Chaos were aimed directly at the masked man—

Thud.

The ground trembled.

The saint and Cale looked at each other.

Still smiling, Cale said,

“They came right on time.”

And the saint had to shift his gaze first.

KWA-A-A-A-ANG!

KWA-ANG!

A massive explosion erupting directly behind him.

“Aaaagh!”

“Kgh! Block it!”

Along with the believers’ screams came the urgent sounds of the Order’s forces moving.

He turned his head.

Behind his back, the masked man said evenly,

“What took you so long? I was waiting.”

A voice grumbling in welcome.

Hearing that from behind him, the saint faced a gigantic red worm.

“...Wanderer.”

He muttered lowly.

Then—

“You lunatics! Looks like you were up to lunatic shit again!”

Kahahahaha!

Wanderer Cho stood atop the crimson worm that looked as if it had been made of lava, moving his hands without pause.

Fwoosh!

Fwoosh—!

Everywhere his hands pointed, red liquid surged up and swallowed everything.

“Aaaagh!”

The Order was being destroyed.

The believers fled.

“I’ll kill every last one of you!”

Wanderer Cho’s eyes had rolled back.

He had entered a state of extreme excitement.

Wanderer So Hee’s disappearance.

Betrayal.

A stab in the back.

Being toyed with by the enemy while losing one arm.

Cho exploded with all the fury and emotion that had built up inside him.

“I’ve gotta smash it all! Burn it all! How dare you lay a hand on me?”

Thoughts of So Hee had already passed from his mind.

Because—

“Wait.”

Wanderer Ryeon.

His sister would take care of all that.

Even when consumed by rage, Ryeon was capable of rational judgment.

“What is this situation?”

They had stormed into the Order of the God of Chaos.

While smashing everything on the way in, they had seen almost no one aside from the bare minimum of guard forces.

That had felt strange, and now all the believers and Order leadership were gathered here in Primordial Night, the holy land.

“...The saint.”

She saw the saint.

And also—

Glance.

Glance.

One by one, the ones who had caused this chaos entered her sight.

Two mages and one swordsman—

Weak sacrifices did not even enter her vision.

Who are they?

A man in black night-clothes, wearing a mask.

He stood at the center of the holy land.

“!”

Their eyes met.

The unidentified man opened his mouth.

Then shouted,

“They’re trying to make the God of Chaos descend here!”

Not only Ryeon’s eyes, but Cho’s as well widened.

“What?”

It was absurd.

Why had the hunters chosen this virtual reality in the first place? 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Because this place had no intervention from any god.

But now a god could interfere in this world?

“Ah.”

Could it be—

Something that happened because it was becoming a real world?

The moment a strange light entered Wanderer Ryeon’s eyes—

“This was a scheme to trample an Absolute God from the start!”

The masked man shouted once more.

“Shut your mouth!”

A high-ranking priest blurted out urgently without realizing it.

“......”

Ryeon stayed silent for a moment, then opened her mouth.

“So it isn’t a lie.”

Dark moon.

Even the Primordial Root bridge had vanished, leaving the night sky fully visible.

That gave the answer.

“Destroy it.”

Wanderer So Hee.

The Lan Kingdom.

That was not the end of it.

The Order of the God of Chaos had already betrayed them.

“Cho. Even if we die, we destroy everything.”

And she made her decision.

The Third Emperor.

Even if that person, the Five-Colored-grade Wanderer, came here, the decision regarding this place remained destruction.

Everyone’s death.

That alone.

Crackkk—

Everything around Wanderer Ryeon slowly began to freeze.

At that moment—

“Yeah! Smash it all!”

A frivolous voice rang out.

No, it was an excited voice.

“Hahahahaha!”

The masked man.

That bastard had suddenly started climbing down from the altar.

“Let’s smash everything and loot everything too!”

Wanderer Cho said,

“What the hell is that lunatic?”

But before they could even exchange words with him—

Whiiiiii—

The saint moved.

Urgently.

Riding the gray wind, he shot forward at incredible speed.

The altar?

That direction was toward the man at the altar.

“S-Saint!”

At that moment, someone called out to the saint in alarm.

They could not help it.

KOOONG!

The ground shook violently.

“!”

“What the hell, what’s happening!”

Even Wanderers Ryeon and Cho were flustered.

Woooooooo—wooo—

Wooo---

Suddenly the entire area trembled as if it were about to explode.

That strong?

Ryeon had definitely noticed the two mages earlier.

Their mana had been fairly large, but not enough to be worth particular caution, so she had ignored them.

But then—

Platinum.

Red.

Those two colors of mana shot up into the sky—

Thud!

—and the moment they slammed into the ground at the same time—

Wooooo—

The two lights moved rapidly toward the center of the basin and formed a massive magic circle.

“No!”

The bishop realized what was happening and tried to act, but—

—Rosalyn.

—Yes.

—After lifting everyone who isn’t a sacrifice, drop them at once. You can control it that precisely, can’t you?

—Yes. I just need to cut off mana only for them.

One dragon and one mage clapped lightly.

Clap.

The sound of the two claps rang out together.

Fwaaaat-!

Bright light, a mixture of platinum and red, burst out from the basin.

“Ah!”

“Hhk!”

“Aagh!”

And then every body inside that magic circle rapidly floated up into the air.

Around five hundred sacrifices.

Wrapped in platinum and red light, they rose into the sky.

“Ah—”

People from other worlds, all of whom had lived different lives and spoken different languages.

What appeared in their eyes beyond that bright light was the night sky.

A dark-moon night.

Their bodies rose toward the night that existed in their worlds too, toward the stars.

Instinctively, they realized it.

They were being rescued.

No—they would live.

They could not help but know.

Because the light wrapping around them held no malice at all, only warmth.

There was no attack in that lightning-bright platinum light and fire-vivid red light.

They could only feel the will to take them away from this terrible place.

Thud!

But those who did not receive that will—

They had risen into the air as well, only to crash back down, and as they quickly regained their footing, one high-ranking priest shouted urgently,

“Stop them!”

“Catch them!”

Others shouted after him.

Capture those mages!

And seize the sacrifices!

Tens of thousands of believers reacted to those words.

Because they understood this much too.

“Our night—”

“No! Tonight is the Night of Pleasure!”

For them, for their faith in their god, the most important ritual was being ruined.

That could not be allowed.

And the bishop, too, thinking he had to stop this, looked around and shouted,

“Saint, you must stop them—!”

But his eyes widened.

Whiiii-

The saint did not care about the sacrifices at all.

The moment the magic unfolded, he moved.

He had left the range of the spell.

And the direction he moved in was only one.

The masked man.

Cale.

The saint lunged straight toward him.

He could not help it.

“No!”

For the first time, an urgent cry burst from the saint’s mouth.

How!

How had that bastard known?

Even in a situation where every second mattered, that question struck him.

It had to.

Splash.

Cale, who had been clambering down from the altar, was trying to go beneath the lake.

—Sniff sniff!

Following the scent of the divine relic that the Sound of the Wind was tracking.

—Mine...!

And sensing as well the Miser of Destruction’s frenzied obsession with the altar.

As Cale headed beneath the altar, he glanced upward.

“Y-you bastard—!”

The saint, gripping butcher’s knives in both hands, was racing toward him on the wind.

His eyes, wrapped in gray, were filled with Fear of Chaos, but—

—Hmph.

The dominating aura snorted.

—He’s not even a god, just a saint.

Exactly.

Cale bared a grin.

The saint saw Cale smiling back at him even as he faced Fear of Chaos unleashed with the saint’s full power.

Flutter.

Cale waved one hand.

Then, looking at the basin thrown into chaos—

And at the lights rising into the sky—

Splash!

He dove into the small lake-like pool.

—Sniff sniff! An incredible divine relic!

—Huff, huff. Let’s steal the altar too!

Because it was only a small pool, Cale saw it immediately.

The very bottom.

There, a small gray whirlwind was circling.

Something faintly visible at the center of that wind.

That’s it.

The divine relic gathered for the return of the God of Chaos.

Heh.

I steal that, then I bolt too!

A proper villain ought to disappear after looting the place!

Cale moved quickly, already happily imagining his escape plan.

Splash!

Because he knew the saint would dive after him.

Hearing the saint plunge in pursuit, Cale headed downward even faster.

It would be over soon.

The Wanderers had already destroyed most of the holy land and the Order.

While he kept the saint tied up here, his companions on the surface would rescue the sacrifices.

And outside the gorge, Choi Han and Raon would secure a route for the sacrifices and their companions to escape.

Right. It would be over soon.

All that remained was to steal it and run.

*****

“Huh?”

Mad Attention Whore.

He stared blankly down below the vanished Primordial Root on the dark-moon night, into the gorge beneath it.

“...Light?”

Platinum light and red light entwined in harmony as they surged upward.

“...People?”

And the light held people who were crying or sighing in relief.

“...Magic?”

Right. By magic, hundreds of people were rising upward.

“#%&^&.”

“@#%!”

He could not understand what those people were saying.

Could a game really do this?

Was it a bug?

As he stood there blankly thinking, he heard a voice.

“...I can feel the power of the sun.”

It was the saintess.

The one who had remained silent until now finally spoke.

Staring at Choi Han and Raon, she said,

“And I can also feel immensely sinister and evil powers.”

Drip.

Cold sweat ran down the saintess’s face.

“But there is definitely the power of the sun among those immense powers. And that light carrying those people upward. That light is warm.”

The saintess asked,

“Who are you?”

However—

Flap flap.

Raon was busy right now to answer.

—Raon, can you hear me?

As the gray sky cleared, the golden dragon old man’s voice came through.

—Those people are sacrifices. We have to save them.

With those words, people rising upward through the air.

Raon understood at once.

“We have to save them!”

Flap flap.

In contrast to the cute fluttering of his wings, black mana gathered around the young dragon.

At that overwhelming power, the saintess and the holy knight—and even Mad Attention Whore, who had been holding his breath—drew in sharp breaths.

“Save them!”

Raon said, his eyes sparkling.

The saintess and the holy knight faltered at those pure eyes.

The young dragon, colored like the night, was not dark.

Neither was the black-haired swordsman beside him.

That must have been because the eyes of both beings were so very clear.

Tap!

Choi Han had already started pulling up those coming from the gorge.

Raon said to the saintess,

“When I scoop up the sacrifices, all of you help!”

Flap flap!

“We’re saving people!”

At that moment, a system window appeared before Mad Attention Whore and the user with him.

[Would you like to accept the quest ‘Night and Light’?]

[Because there is night, light shines all the brighter. Here now, the night and the light trying to save this world are together. Will you help them?]

...Save this world?

Was this world in danger right now?

Something flashed through Mad Attention Whore’s eyes.

He suddenly saw black Raon and Choi Han, and also the saintess and holy knight who served the Sun God.

But—

The real thing isn’t here.

He felt it instinctively.

His attention-whore instincts, overflowing with madness, kicked in.

It’s down below.

What was happening down below, at this very moment.

Night and light were present in that event.

They were facing off against the threat to this world.

But what did a threat to this world mean?

It was then.

New words appeared in the quest window.

[Can you help save this world, this reality, this game?]

“Huh?”

This game?

The moment turmoil swept through the eyes of the two users—

The saintess stepped forward and asked.

Her voice was urgent.

“Who in the world are you?”

The moment the saintess shouted that, Raon knew rescuing the sacrifices came first and the situation was urgent, so while unleashing magic, he gave a rough answer.

Something Cale had once said came to mind.

If Choi Han, who could not act, stepped up, it would be awkward, so Raon had to do it himself.

“We are the Dark Kingdom!”

The two followers of the Sun God.

The two users.

As all of them froze, Raon proudly declared the truth.

“We’re super strong!”

Our human and our companions are all very strong.

“So we can save everyone!”

With eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky, Raon triggered his magic.

Between the cliffs, in place of a bridge, a gigantic net appeared.

That net gently caught the rising sacrifices.

“Help, saintess, holy knight! And you humans too!”

Choi Han had already leaped into the net, pulling people out of it and away from the gorge even faster.

Flap flap.

Raon said to those still standing there blankly,

“Let’s save everyone!”

The moment he saw those clear eyes, Mad Attention Whore moved his hands without even realizing it.

[You have accepted the quest ‘Night and Light’.]

And the saintess moved.

Wooooo—

Holy power poured from her body.

It was the power of healing.

At the Death Precipice in the Demon Realm,

black light and white light began to pour forth.

Rustle.

And in the Demon Realm—

the inhabitants living in that forsaken place reacted to those lights and slowly began to move within the darkness.