‘An item that can buy time, it’s truly a tempting thing.’

It was a realization that suddenly occurred to her.

Especially since she wasn’t the type to usually desire things.

Strictly speaking, time was more valuable than any other resource, and it would naturally be a good thing to have more of it. Not to mention the ability to modify a life already lived.

Suji stared blankly at the 〈Deviation〉 for a moment.

“Feel free to do as you wish.”

Elaine spoke as if reading her mind.

Suji turned her head to look at the other team members one by one.

Elaine nodded, while Saint and Peace looked contemplative for a moment but soon raised their left hands, waving them in the air. It was a sign that they would follow the team leader’s decision.

Suji tried her best to calm her mind and asked again.

“Can this be used anytime?”

The mouth on the creature’s chin opened, and an eerie voice responded.

“As if. It only exists now, in this moment. The 〈Deviation〉 is the very reason for my existence, my heart. It comes with me, and it goes with me.”

Suji slowly glared at the creature.

The fortunate thing was that no matter how much time the 〈Deviation〉 allowed to turn back, it couldn’t be used to save her mother.

If the duration had been longer, she would have truly been shaken.

Even at the cost of her comrades’ memories, she would have tried living again.

The embarrassment that made her cheeks burn came belatedly.

They had come to confront this creature because defeating it would allow them to kill the ‘Messiah’. There was the motive of avenging her mother, but the ultimate goal was to prevent humanity’s extinction.

The objective wasn’t to receive an item like charity before even defeating the creature.

So she would protect her current teammates and herself.

She needed them, with these exact memories.

Having brought the team members here by force with that promise from the start, what was she doing, wavering first?

‘Get it together.’

Suji lightly tapped her cheeks with both hands.

‘Honestly… I’m tired of this hell. I don’t want another life. I did my best. How much more effort can I give? Let’s stop investing in possibilities. If I get tired, nothing will work out. You already failed by doing that, Suji.’

She shouted, knocking the table aside.

Perhaps because she had invested heavily in penetration traits, the table was cut like soft tofu. The feather-shaped necklace rolled on the floor.

[νόμος is intrigued by your action.] [απόγευμα is intrigued by your action.] [Νύμφη is intrigued by your action.] [Κάστωρ is intrigued by your action.]

[σκιά is saddened by your action.] [Μουσα is intrigued by your action.]

The logs appearing in her field of vision suddenly felt irritating.

Each and every one of them.

Each and every one was annoying.

This guy, that guy.

Watching and testing human reactions.

Suji gripped her sword tightly and shouted.

“Cut the nonsense about 〈Deviation〉. I don’t need it.”

At her firm words, the creature’s red eyes rolled as if confused.

Suji looked at each team member again, speaking clearly.

“What do you mean you don’t need it?”

“I don’t need it. I won’t use it, so get rid of it.”

The three mouths opened simultaneously.

From the mouth on the cheek came her mother’s voice, from the mouth on the forehead came laughter, and from the mouth on the chin came the monster’s voice.

“Then I’m satisfied with completing the mission.”

“Hahaha. Hahahaha.”

“…Hmph, insolent human. Then die here.”

Ding!

[Congratulations. The victory condition for 〈Deviation〉 has been met.]

With that message window, the arm holding the longest scythe suddenly fell to the floor.

Suji and Peace hurriedly moved to avoid the arm bone that was several times longer than a human body.

Thud!

The second longest remaining arm also fell, the part from the elbow to the fingertips.

Thud! Thud!

The third arm too. The fourth arm too.

With sand and dust billowing in the dungeon, it took some time to accurately grasp what was happening.

The creature, whose bones supporting its body had cracks all over, was disintegrating.

“…What the.”

Suji wasn’t the only one surprised.

Elaine also seemed to have never imagined such a scene, staring blankly ahead, while Peace and Saint, thinking there might be an unexpected next phase Elaine hadn’t anticipated, remained tense and continued surveying the surroundings.

As the hood was completely pulled back, the several mouths filling the back of the head each babbled different sounds.

Thud, thud!

The fallen creature’s arms then pierced the ground like a rib cage, surrounding the party.

Suji suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

The shape the fallen bones were unintentionally creating was like a prison.

“Wait. Victory condition? No, no. We need to get out of here.”

Ding!

The sound rang out again, and a new notification window popped up.

[Congratulations on clearing floor 100!

Rewards

350 Time Crystals

810 Destruction Crystals

100 Reinforcement Fragments

12 Persuasive Reinforcement Fragments

40 Demiurge Bones

1 Demiurge Skull

8 Demiurge Arm Bones

Door to Shangri-La (Tier 10)

180 Advanced Weapon Reinforcement Stones

100 Advanced Armor Reinforcement Stones

100,000,000G

100 Rare Random Boxes

Deviation (Tier 10.5)]

The rewards were massive.

If someone had even 1/10 of these reward items, they could instantly become a VIP in the Hunter Market and sit on a pile of money, as they were top-tier items.

In particular, the Demiurge Bones were hidden-grade materials for forging weapons, and they could be used to create entirely new weapons different from the ones obtained so far.

But Suji wasn’t happy at all.

She waited for a moment, but there was no message about the door to the next floor opening, which usually appeared when clearing a floor of the tower.

“Exit! Find an exit!”

At her scream-like shout, the team members who were about to relax after seeing the notification window hurriedly began looking around.

“East, no exit!”

“West, no exit!”

“Damn it! North is blocked too!”

As the team members reported back in turn, Suji also realized that the southern path was already completely blocked by a mound of bones.

It was possible to break through by stabbing weapons into the bone joints, but the creature’s bones were extremely hard. Moreover, they were piled up in the form of a tomb.

Even if they sliced away until the rapier blade wore out, they wouldn’t be able to secure a path to pass through.

Seeing the bone dust still floating like a cloud around them, she gritted her teeth.

There wasn’t even a gate to escape through somewhere.

Was it saying to choose 〈Deviation〉 on the 100th floor or die here?

It seemed too easy to end it like this, but what kind of act was it to trap and kill people with a victory notification?

‘Did Mom die like this too?’

Thinking that way, she couldn’t even die from anger.

“You think I came all the way here to die so pathetically? Victory? Is that what I wanted?”

She was angry that the guy she wanted to kill with her own hands had self-destructed due to an event, and it was so unfair and pathetic that she even fell into the trap he had set.

It was an issue she could have noticed sooner, that the creature’s huge pile of remains was blocking all paths, but she had missed it because she had too many thoughts.

Now there was no upper floor either.

What was she supposed to do?

She desperately looked around.

She couldn’t end it like this.

This wasn’t why she had come all the way here.

Even knowing there was no possibility, she had dragged the team members here to win.

To win and get out alive together.

To play games.

To read comics.

To watch movies.

To watch dramas.

To take walks on sunny days.

To properly feel the passing of the seasons while living.

To have a heart-fluttering, lovely romance like everyone else.

Just that.

That’s all she wanted.

What great thing did she wish for that they would ruin a person’s future like this?

Even after taking Mom away.

At that moment, what caught her bloodshot eyes was the long, enormous scythe buried in the pile of 〈Demiurge〉’s remains.

“The space itself is collapsing!”

Then, Elaine’s urgent voice was heard.

Quickly turning her gaze, the pieces of the ground were rapidly disappearing, centering on the places that had collapsed each time 〈Demiurge〉 stomped the floor.

If they stayed like this, they would truly vanish along with the space.

Suji knew it was reckless but approached the scythe and gripped it.

The scythe, which was at least five times longer than her height, was clearly not something an average person could use at a glance.

It was heavy, befitting its huge size.

Just touching it briefly, it wouldn’t budge.

Suji checked the item.

[〈Demiurge’s Scythe〉 Tier 10

A new harmony of space and cracks dwells within.

It can tear the void and connect to a new space.

Luck+1 Strength+51 Mental Power−14 Attack Power+21,001 Critical Hit+504

(Requirement: EXS-grade)]

Seeing the usage requirement written on the very bottom line, Suji’s eyes widened in disbelief.