"The rupture in the sky was vivid. Day and night stood facing each other. It was an unreal sight. Silently, without a single sound, I watched as the day continued to fracture, unable to move a muscle.
It felt like a nightmare creeping in during broad daylight. The sensation of a monster that should only emerge at night, when one falls asleep, lifting its head under the sunlight, sent shivers down my spine.
There was no thought of needing to react. Beyond mere fear, it seemed to progress straight to resignation. As the day shattered, the night grew even darker. Pieces of blue sky, white clouds, and fragments of sunlight fell intermittently, then disappeared.
Beyond that, stars twinkled. The fear of not knowing what lurked within the countless twinkles tightened around my heart. And then...
Clang—
The metallic sound rang out. It was a familiar tone. What extended was not golden but silver. The pale moonlight began to descend from the sky to the ground. Dozens of silver chains.
"Hyung!"
Yoo Hyun blocked my path, reaching out his arm. While others, including Yerim and Peace, even SSS-grade monsters, instinctively protected their vital spots, my brother shielded me. It was astonishing and awakening at the same time. But that didn't mean we could do anything about it.
"Yoo Hyun, ugh!"
A chain lightly pierced through Yoohyun's arm, tearing through his leg diagonally. Another chain grazed past his left arm. Just that left tears in clothes and deep wounds resembling claw marks. The smell of blood poured in from all sides. At the same time, the teacher's skill signaled danger.
No fatal injuries. But there was not a single person without wounds. In a very short time, everyone was battered. Limbs were torn apart, and I felt as if all my limbs were caught in chains.
"You can't use healing skills with the chains still in place!"
Noah's shout echoed. Yoohyun swung his sword. With a loud noise, the broken blade flew off. Not a single flaw appeared on the silver chains. Instead, wounds only became more agitated due to the recoil.
There was no way to escape, like insects firmly bound in a spider's web. Yoohyun's eyes shook and then sank heavily.
- Yoohyun!
The swordless arm reached towards the chain-pierced arm. Irin protruded and grabbed the sword, surprised me, I also grabbed my brother, astonished.
"What are you trying to do!"
"Hyung needs to run away right now! We can die, but you can't!"
At Yoohyun's shout, Yerim also looked back at me in surprise.
"But, still! Can't Noah move you away!"
To my words, Noah, who was behind, answered in confusion.
"I can't use spatial movement skills! The space here is distorted... and the connection with the mana hole is severed!"
"Please use healing skills after cutting off the arm to remove the chain."
"Hey!"
- Yoohyun, irin will take Hyung!
Irin grew rapidly and wrapped around me. Damn it, but even if I escape from here, what's next? Why is newbie silent? Who on earth is the owner of these chains!
"Irin, stop! It's pointless for me to escape alone! If Yoohyun dies, you'll disappear too!"
Even if I tried to save my life right now, how long could I last alone? Irin hesitated, and Yooyun bit his lip. The night was spreading, covering not only our heads but also the entire city. As sunlight receded, darkness grew deeper.
Since our little moon uttered those words, there hasn't been any message yet. It came after the rookie's message, but it's unlikely to be newbie. After grinding my teeth, I said,
"Let's go to the mana hole for now."
"They'll come back! Avoid as much damage as possible!"
Blocking was impossible. But avoiding was not going to be easy either.
"Yerim, bring water from the river for us! Yoohyun, heat it all up! Not to completely evaporate, but to spread it out thinly!"
I almost sighed, but not only did it consume a lot of mana, but the range wasn't as wide as I hoped. Yerim brought water from the river. Blue willow leaves fluttered towards the membrane spread out above the sky. Then, the leaves ignited into flames, instantly boiling the water.
A thick mist rose heavily. The massive and dense clouds seemed to descend low to the ground.
"Yerim, can you sense where the chains are?"
"Um, yes! I think so! Since they're in the form of tiny water droplets."
Then through the teacher's skill, others could also sense it. Except for Sigma. Sigma had combat prediction, so he suffered the least damage from the first attack.
- Krk.
The SSS-grade monster following us growled lowly. Almost simultaneously, Yerim exclaimed.
"Here it comes!"
Through the transmitted sensation, I felt it too. Silver rain poured down, veiling the sky with a hazy mist. Yerim, capable of teleportation, caught me from above, along with Peace and others. Clack, clunk! The chains struck the ground, causing asphalt fragments, dirt, and sidewalk blocks to fly up.
Since we were prepared this time, no one was injured. It was a terrifyingly fast attack, but everyone managed to evade it well.
"It's over there!"
The Ministry of Defense building came into view. Darkness hadn't yet descended here. It was still daylight. The contrast was eerie.
'Regardless of whether they're corrupt, loyalists, neutrals, or transcendent beings.'
Is it okay to intervene directly like this? There was no fog, and the attack came from the silver chains. So it wasn't jellyfish. Could it be Chatterbox? Or maybe a transcendent being in this world. The jellyfish had already made contact with the oldest spirits.
'Are they in league with the loyalists or the loyalists of this place?'
Newbie! Send a message already. How can we get out of here?
Perhaps because night hadn't fallen, there was no third attack. The Ministry of Defense was right in front of us.
"Is there a mana hole underground here too?"
"Yes!"
"Then I'll excuse myself. Hyuna!"
I threw an SS-grade bomb towards Moon Hyuna. Without detailed explanation, Moon Hyuna swung her racket like a tennis player. The bomb, launched like a bullet, buried deep into the building and exploded about 3 seconds later with a loud boom.
Yerim poured the remaining water towards the crumbling building. As the building collapsed completely, debris was swept away. Then, Moon Hyuna leaped high into the air and thrust her spear downwards, creating a wide crater and revealing the mana hole underground.
Noah, standing in front of the mana hole, gave us mana. The clouds covering the sky disappeared, revealing the approaching darkness. My throat involuntarily dried up. I longed for L-grade fear resistance.
"No matter how you look at it, there's no solution. What do you think?"
Moon Hyuna asked me.
Moon Hyuna asked me, "Right now, we're facing an opponent we can't handle with our own strength. It would be fortunate if we could just hold out."
It was a pessimistic remark, but it was true. Other than waiting for help while buying time, no other solution came to mind. Even if we could use our skills to double the attack, the outcome would remain the same.
But that didn't mean I was just staring at the message window, doing nothing.
That guy must have a purpose too, so he wouldn't be causing such chaos for no reason. The small moon, silver chains, night. The transcendent being who came looking for Seong Hyeon-je. What is my partner doing?
"Sigma."
Sigma, who had been looking up at the approaching night, turned his gaze towards me.
"It seems that it has something to discuss with you."
"With me?"
"Our moon is really popular."
That's true. I thought it would end with just an SSS-grade monster, but that thing is too huge. But this time...
"It doesn't seem like Sigma came because you became an alien in this world. And that sent message they sent to me."
"A message? What did it say?"
"Our little moon."
Sigma looked back at the approaching night.
"...I don't remember anything."
"Nothing at all?"
"Is there any connection between me and that thing?"
"Well, probably."
"Then Sung Hyunjae, what about him?"
Was it just a resemblance? That question arose again. Same appearance, same skills, and the same weapon. Crescent moon.
"...Crescent moon."
Darkness flutters like a curtain. Fragments of the day scatter. The moon, full of stars, wasn't visible in the night sky. This neighborhood's moon, it was incredibly big.
"Crescent moon!"
I shouted towards the approaching night.
"The transcendent who claims to be knowledgeable shouldn't be unaware that this world has already perished in the past, right? Hey! You're asleep in our world right now! Aren't you?"
Can you hear me? Even if it's fake from the past, information about one's own future would still be intriguing.
"The newbie said you caused trouble and fell asleep! Even the Mermaid Queen looked pitifully! The wolves and deer were gossiping behind your back!"
Of course, there was no such incident, but what do they know? As long as I give the impression that he knows a lot about the Fallen, that's enough. It'll make him want to talk.
[Who are you?]
A message popped up.
"If you want to hear my name, it's basic courtesy for you to reveal yours first. Or is it common in your neighborhood to speak so rudely? Seems like a rootless place."
After a brief silence, the message appeared again.
[The Moon That Swallowed Ten Thousand Worlds]
[Craddle of Transcendents]
[Scouter]
[Sixth Piece of the Crescent Moon]
"What...?"
"You."
A voice echoed from the sky, not from the message.
"You're the nurturer. The one the King of Harmlessness is looking for."
The newbie's message came to mind. Contacting and seeking cooperation like an old spirit, even though the connection was cut off from the transcendent information here. But to think that the counterpart was the crescent moon.
"You're a Fallen, right? If you're with the King of Harmlessness, aren't you a devotee? Don't tell me you're in cahoots with him? Your betraying him?"
"If our interests align, there's no reason not to cooperate."
"You're just a traitor, there's no need for unnecessary words! And weren't you not supposed to directly influence this world? The system, damn it, the system!"
"There are certainly constraints for a norturer, This place is both information from a past vanished world and a dungeon."
A dungeon. A place where external forces interfere much more easily than the outside world. But just when I thought this was too much, a white light poured from the night sky.
Beyond the shattered sky, black hooves appeared. The body with shaggy fur was a horse adorned in magnificent attire. Where the horse's neck and head should be, there was a human torso attached. A centaur. The male-looking torso had long black hair trailing behind pointed ears and half-closed white eyes.
Silver chains swirled around both wrists and surroundings like tendrils. The clanging metallic sound weighed heavily on my entire being. None of us could move. White eyes looked at me. At the same time, the intimidation vanished.
"...You call yourself the Crescent Moon, but you don't even have the slightest hint of the moon's dignity."
Moreover, it seemed like she said she was her. Although you can't guess the gender just by appearance for a different species.
"I am the sixth piece."
"Even if this is a dungeon, can you just appear like this? Shall we go inside?"
"My power is halved from its original and a price must be paid, but I am merely a fake that will disappear. Norturer why does the King of Harmlessness want you?"
"I had a little affair in someone else's house in the middle of the night, and he fell in love with me. When I said I didn't have time to date because I have more than one child to raise, he tried to take me away recklessly. It's just a common soap opera, so it's better to let go a bit for the sake of dignity. In the first place, no one should interfere in such matters. Honestly, jellyfish isn't my type either. I don't like them because they only bring back bad memories."
Without the eyes. The sixth piece of the crescent moon looked down at me with no enthusiasm. Again, the intimidation surged, and my body stiffened. The chains moved like snakes without mercy. I'm starting to dislike the chains. Especially the silver ones.
She won't kill me. At that moment when her teeth were about to bite.
- Kyaaa!
A reddish-brown lump sprang out in front of me. It was an SSS-grade monster sent by Sung hyunjae. The monster unfolded its wings and revealed its fangs towards the approaching sixth piece. Without enthusiasm, the sixth piece gestured. The silver chains ruthlessly tore the monster's wings and slashed its body. The lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud. The limbs of the monster, stained red, twitched for the last time.
At the moment I thought it was anticlimactic, the air trembled. The sixth piece of the crescent moon extended her chains towards me and Sigma. Just before the fierce chains reached me.
Kigigik, with a scratching sound, something thin wrapped around the chains and stopped them. It was none other than...
"...Hey, Sung Hyunjae."
It was a hot pink yarn. the sinner who gave out yarn as a birthday present,
---