“Heard the news?” An orc soldier in scuffed armor hefted a wine jug, breath fogging like steam from a forge.

“What news?” Another orc took the jug, curiosity pricking like a thorn.

“Top brass says a great calamity’s about to fall.” The orc spoke softly, like stepping on thin ice.

“Calamity? What kind?” A third orc blinked, mind as blank as a winter field.

“The whole continent kind.” The armored orc frowned, digging for the leaders’ words like stones in a riverbed.

“Tch. That’s not for us to chew on. Just listen to the top.” The other orc grinned, shrugging it off like rain from a cloak.

“Panicking now’s pointless. Trust the chiefs’ call, brother.” His voice was steady, like a drum in fog.

“Fair enough...”

“But... I hear the humans have their own whispers too...” The words drifted like smoke.

“Oh? Let’s hear it.”

“Eh, it’s just...”

....................................................

Beast Race Grand Hall.

“And what gives you the right to say that?” Hyeok glared at the man in a gray hood, eyes sharp as drawn steel.

“Do you know how much your meddling cost my Beast Race?” His voice rumbled like a storm behind mountains. “Now, at this hour, you pop up asking to cooperate? Why should I trust you—or your humans?”

Birand shrugged, a smile like a knife’s glint. “Then let me ask you, Hyeok. How bored would I have to be to come to you and tell you this? If your ancestor hadn’t been someone I raised up, do you think I’d bother with your Beast Race?”

“Nothing but a rabble with a bit of juice, always thinking they’re kings of the sky.” Birand’s laugh was cold, like frost crawling over glass.

“You—!” Hyeok’s face flushed with fury, a tiger about to spring.

Through his mask, Birand gave him a chill glance, winter quiet and merciless. “Think it through. Do you want the Beast Race to keep breathing? I’m here because more hands make better odds against the Celestial God.”

“It’s not that we can’t do it without you.” Energy flared at Birand’s fingertip. He wrote a sigil in the air like fire on silk, then tossed it to Hyeok. “That’s all. Consider it.”

He turned away, eyes sweeping Hyeok and the other Beast Race elders like a hawk’s pass. He winked. “If you want in, send envoys to Holy Paris. If not, wait here for the end.”

He left without looking back, boots silent as falling ash.

Silence held the hall like snow.

Orek stepped up and clapped Hyeok’s shoulder, palm heavy as stone. “Brother. What do you think?”

Hyeok shook his head. The sigil bled a fearful aura in his hand, like a coal too hot to hold. Irritation crawled under his skin.

He sighed. “Our Beast Race... right now... doesn’t have many choices. Our elders have all turned to infant bodies to regrow. Our top power might not match the humans’. If Birand wants something, he doesn’t need us.”

“So...” Orek blinked, reading the choice etched on his brother’s face.

“Mm... Even if that’s my lean, some things need consent. Otherwise... the tribe might split and bleed.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”

“Heh.”

Seafolk territory.

In the abyssal deep, a vast bubble held back the sea like a pearl cupping moonlight, forming a silent chamber.

A refined-looking man cradled a cup, sipping tea whose steam curled like seaweed in a current.

He eyed the man opposite him and smiled with interest. “You’re saying the Celestial God plans to launch an apocalypse?”

Birand nodded. “Yes.”

“I don’t get it.” The man set his tea on a low table polished like black water. He leaned back and crossed a leg, as casual as a drifting manta.

“Oh?”

“Why would she do that? If she’s resurrected, she can rule like before. If she starts an apocalypse, there’s no profit. Rule a dead planet? What’s the point?” His tone was cool, like deep water.

“Simple,” Birand said, voice light as a blade.

“Do tell, Hero.”

“To sit on that throne, you dirtied your tentacles more than a little.” Birand’s laugh was cold. Deathly energy seeped from him like midnight fog, and the watching Seafolk slipped back into the dark.

The man saw it and smiled. Good. First gate passed.

“My intel says this. Including the giant whale, most of the Seafolk’s powerhouses died under your tentacles.” Birand’s shrug was almost lazy. “In a few months, you swallowed the other two kings’ forces whole. Right?”

“Right. Winner is king, loser is carrion. That says enough.” The man’s nod was a wave, steady and sure.

“Exactly. The Celestial God thinks the same way.” Birand’s smile showed no warmth.

“Oh? But isn’t she the unchallenged sovereign?” The man’s smile held doubt, like a shadow in clear water. “Who can threaten her, besides the Abyss still asleep?”

Birand’s fingers brushed his left cheek, a reflex like touching an old scar. He smiled. “Not necessarily.”

“...I’m listening.” The man lifted a brow.

“You know I’m the Hero. So you’ve heard of the war centuries ago. Or rather, you were alive back then.”

“True. Hero, you were formidable.” He inclined his head, respect quiet as dusk.

“Then this is easy.” Birand’s voice drifted like incense. “She won’t allow any threat to her throne. Not from any race. Not a single sprout. Your strength must be pressed below the divine. Only then can she chain you forever.”

“Do you know why the alliance crumpled before the Demon Race?” Birand smiled again, a sliver of winter.

He didn’t wait for an answer. “Because the Celestial God shackled every race. After reaching Sacred Rank, your sense for power dulled a tier. After Transcender, progress crawled like a snail in tar. So slow that some died of old age without stepping past the Transcender’s gate.”

“The Demon Race’s officers were mostly Transcenders. Under absolute power, the alliance fell back again and again.” Birand lifted a shoulder, like brushing off soot.

“The line kept collapsing. If she hadn’t moved, the world would’ve become the Demon Race’s pasture. That was when I appeared. I existed to check the demons, nothing more.”

“So I didn’t carry her shackles.” Birand paused. He didn’t say he came from another world. Some truths sleep in the dark.

“After I pushed the demons back, what waited for me was annihilation.”

“Yet you live,” the man said flatly.

“No. I died. Twice, at least.” Birand’s smile was bitter, like cold tea.

“After learning the truth, I burned years trying to unseal her shackles on you. In the end, I found a way.” His grin turned strange, like lightning behind clouds.

“Annihilation Dawn?” Shock rippled through the man like a current.

Birand nodded, smiling faintly. “Yes. My final move while alive. You thought I knocked you down a realm and caged your power. Not so.”

“...But after that, our strong did feel new shackles.” Doubt flickered like a fish’s tail.

“Sorry. I wasn’t strong enough. I only made her shackles visible. I didn’t remove them. That’s why.”

“And the chains in the sky? The vast links that sealed space?”

“All drawn from you.” Birand smiled. “All hers.”

“...So after that, everyone on this planet progressed faster than before. Now there are experts at Divine Rank almost everywhere. Which means, if she starts the apocalypse, it’s still your fault.” The man’s tone was mild, like rain on stone.

Birand chuckled. “Correct.”

“Hahaha. And the culprit laughs light as a feather.”

“Heh. So, Giant Squid. Will you wear the shackles again and kneel as her vassal, her forever slave? Or will you turn over—be the master?” Birand’s voice sank like an anchor.

“...I won’t deny it. Your pitch is tempting.” The man raised his tea again, gaze deep as a trench fixed on Birand.

“So... your answer?”

“Hero. I’ll promise this. If you can marshal at least five races to support you, the Seafolk will join you. If not... forgive us for staying out.”

“Even though, the moment she wakes, she’ll erase your Seafolk high command and plunge you back into endless chaos?”

“That’s still more real than extinction.” His voice was cool as slate.

“I already have the humans, the Beast Race, and the Elf Race. If I find the goblins and dwarves, I’ll win them too. Isn’t that enough?” Birand frowned, temper ruffling like wind on waves.

“Not enough.” The man shook his head on the surface, though doubt rippled underneath.

The Elf Race standing early? Weren’t they best at hiding, turtling under leaves and mist? If so... maybe the Hero’s words are true.

Birand frowned, thoughts moving like shadows of clouds. He caught the other’s fear, then let out a slow, heavy breath. “I think I know what you fear, Giant Squid. What if I told you—I have a way to kill the Celestial God?”

“What?!”