Marlak’s condition was strange.
He just stood there in silence, without saying a word.
It was as if he had turned into a stone statue, completely frozen.
Evan sensed that something was off and asked him,
“Is something wrong?”
Only silence returned.
Evan waved his hand in front of Marlak’s eyes.
“…?”
No response.
But at that moment, the whites of Marlak’s eyes disappeared, and his gaze turned entirely black.
He revealed his hostility.
“So it wasn’t the right move to ask outright?”
Thinking about it, mentioning the name Ellecell directly would be fatal for Ellecell.
It was common sense—there was no way anyone could know his real name.
Someone who had lived since ancient times, whose true identity should remain unknown unless he revealed it himself.
Evan quickly stood up and moved cautiously, on guard.
However, Marlak merely stared at Evan, showing no sign of movement.
He simply followed Evan with his head every time he moved.
Then, he suddenly bared his teeth and grinned wickedly. The bizarre sight made Evan frown.
“What are you people?”
Hoping to get some kind of answer, Evan asked him.
But Marlak continued to gaze at him in silence.
‘Is he refusing to allow any information at all?’
Seeing how far Ellecell had gone to prepare, Evan was once again reminded of how thorough his personality was.
Evan decided to walk away.
He didn’t think he’d be able to learn anything from someone in such a state.
It seemed he would remain like that no matter what.
As Evan moved to leave, Marlak’s head turned to follow his every movement.
And then, Evan witnessed an even stranger sight.
Crack!
With the sound of bones twisting, Marlak’s head rotated a full 360 degrees to look at him.
“…”
Evan watched him for a moment, then immediately stepped outside.
‘Ellecell, you bastard. You’re really toying with people.’
After leaving the village, Evan decided to look for any clues that might be found there.
“Why is no one around?”
As he walked through the village streets, Evan felt a sense of unease.
The streets of the village were as silent as the grave.
Just earlier, when he was searching for Marlak’s place with Alan and Reynold, the villagers had been rushing about.
Until the adjustment occurred, everyone had been busy with repairs or new facilities in the village.
So why was there no one moving about now?
“Were they all gathered somewhere?”
Soon, as Evan reached the village center, he started seeing the villagers one by one.
The moment he got close to them—
Crack!
They all turned their heads toward Evan.
With their necks twisted grotesquely, they mirrored Marlak’s condition, staring at him.
“Danger detected.”
“Danger detected.”
Every time Evan walked past, they repeated the same words, like frogs croaking in unison.
“…They’re completely out of their minds.”
Passing them by, Evan headed toward where Alan and Reynold were.
At the entrance of Ellecell’s Mansion.
In this deserted, quiet place, a figure in a robe stood alone.
His black pupils stared piercingly at the mansion.
“Finally caught the little rats.”
He pushed back the hood of his robe, revealing long, murky brown hair.
A wide grin spread across his face.
‘Stop, Ellecell.’
Within him, Alpherion tried to restrain him.
“Why, Your Majesty? Afraid the cards you’ve been hiding will be revealed?”
Alpherion said nothing.
He had no cards left to hide.
The only hope he had was that mysterious being who had outsmarted Ellecell.
But even that last hope seemed to be ending today.
His foresight, which saw through everything, was not human.
No matter how much he struggled, he was still dancing in the palm of Ellecell’s hand.
“Judging by your silence, did I hit the mark?”
‘Shut up!’
“It’s lucky I caught them sooner than expected. I remember the 480th time exactly. I caught the little rats just like this.”
No one could match the sheer amount of knowledge Ellecell possessed.
Ellecell opened the mansion’s gate and stepped inside.
“Your Majesty, do you know what the trap on the second floor is?”
When Alpherion remained silent, Ellecell continued with a sneer.
“They’ll taste hell in that world forever, until their minds shatter. By the way, there’s absolutely no way out of that trap. I look forward to seeing how they handle the truth.”
Seeing Ellecell so delighted, Alpherion felt utter despair—everything was already over.
“Do you know what brings even greater despair to humans? Giving them hope, then snatching it away. You know that better than anyone, so I don’t need to explain.”
‘You bastard.’
Alpherion, trembling with rage, spat out his anger at Ellecell.
“I wonder how things are now. I’m curious how many can endure in that world.”
Ellecell walked slowly across the garden toward the mansion’s doors.
“Run faster!”
“What on earth is going on!”
Alan and Reynold were running after Evan, racing through the village.
After seeing the villagers’ bizarre condition, Evan had hurried them along.
Though they still hadn’t recovered their memories, they had no choice but to trust Evan for now.
Everyone else in the village had turned into grotesque figures.
Even without their memories, they could tell something was very wrong.
Alan called out to Evan, who was leading the way.
“Is this place really fake?”
“Yes. How many times do I have to say it? Snap out of it and focus on getting out.”
Evan’s destination was where Elisa was.
Originally, they had planned to wait for her at Alan and Reynold’s place, but if anyone discovered something, they would signal each other.
And just then, a fireball exploded in the western sky of the village.
That was her signal.
‘Did she find something?’
Evan hurried forward, but as they ran, the villagers all pointed their fingers at them and shouted.
“Danger! Danger!”
“What on earth are those things? Gives me the creeps.”
“It’s chilling to think we lived with them until now.”
Alan and Reynold each commented as they passed the villagers.
Soon after, Evan stopped at the village entrance.
Beyond the boundary of the village, a different world unfolded.
This drove home the fact that this world was fake.
A world where space itself was tangled and jumbled.
“It’s even worse out here.”
As Evan stepped out through the west gate, a message appeared before his eyes.
-Progress in viewing Memory of Ellecell: 56%.
-World Adjustment Phase has decreased to Danger Level 5%.
-The world’s collapse is underway.
The message indicated that the adjustment phase was nearing its end.
It was truly a critical moment, with the end of the world fast approaching.
Evan clicked his tongue and looked around.
Collapsed earth.
As if the ground had caved in, everywhere was covered in jagged cliffs formed by huge cracks.
Gates were opening here and there.
It was a catastrophe, a place where the word ‘death’ came naturally to mind.
It didn’t seem possible that anyone could live here.
‘Looking at this, the village actually seemed safer.’
Evan looked back.
But the village had completely vanished.
Nothing remained but a crumbling horizon.
Alan and Reynold, only now realizing that the village they came from had disappeared, spoke up.
“W-what happened? Where’s our village!”
“The village has really disappeared!”
“Your memories still haven’t returned? Maybe you’ll stay like this until you get out of here.”
It seemed the only way to escape the state of erosion was to leave this world.
Just as Evan resigned himself to that—
Something flashed through his mind.
‘Wait, could I solve it with that?’
He immediately summoned Ascalon.
Then, he unleashed Ascalon’s power.
Fwoosh!
Flames began to rise from the blade.
A blazing sword of fire.
‘The Flame Sword has purification abilities.’
He wondered if he could use the sword’s power to break the status ailment on them—it was worth trying.
“W-what’s that?”
Alan shrank back in fear at the sight of the Flame Sword.
Reynold, too, looked at Evan, tense.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.”
With that brief reply, Evan used the purification power of the Flame Sword.
-You have used the Flame of Purification.
Flames burst from the sword in Evan’s hand, engulfing Alan and Reynold.
“Ahhh!”
“F-fire!”
They panicked at the sudden blaze.
But as time passed, they gradually calmed down.
Though the flames covered their bodies, they didn’t feel hot.
On the contrary, it felt like something binding them was being released—a refreshing sensation.
-Purification complete.
-Subjugation lifted.
Alan and Reynold stared blankly at Evan, then spoke.
“…Huh? Young Master? When did you get here?”
“We just opened the door to the mansion hallway and then…”
Alan scratched his head, trying to recall his memories, but everything after entering here was gone.
‘Seems like this works pretty well.’
Satisfied with the result, Evan dispelled the Flame Sword.
The purification power was even more effective than expected. It would surely prove useful in the future.
“Did some memories come back? Get ready to move quickly. We have to get out of here.”
There was no time to talk.
Evan quickly led them away.
As they searched the area for Elisa—
“Over here!”
Her voice called from afar.
Alan pointed to where the voice came from.
“Miss Elisa is over there.”
Evan followed Alan’s gesture.
There, he saw a solitary hut that seemed completely out of place.
Only the ground around it remained intact.
Perhaps protected by magic, it stood preserved amidst a world collapsing into ruin.
‘Whatever the reason, that must be an important place.’
Evan pointed in the direction of Elisa.
“Let’s move quickly, everyone.”
With the land collapsed, even a short distance seemed difficult to cross.
Of course, for them, such obstacles meant nothing.
All of them enhanced their bodies with Aura and leaped over the cliffs.
Arriving at Elisa’s location in no time, they were welcomed by her.
“I was worried. On the way here, I confirmed that we couldn’t return to the village.”
Evan frowned at her words.
“That was dangerous. What would you have done if we hadn’t found you?”
Elisa shook her head.
“I was sure about it. This place is the Lower World of the Village. Everything that happens here can be seen from the village. There’s just no way to return to the upper world from here.”
Then, Elisa lifted her left hand.
“If things got really dangerous, I have this engagement ring, so I wasn’t too worried.”
Evan glanced at the ring on her left hand.
A pair of rings passed down through generations of the Kerthen Family.
The rings were imbued with mysterious power.
When used, a red thread connected the wearers, allowing them to find each other’s location anywhere.
But since it consumed a lot of mental energy from both sides, it was only used in emergencies.
“Still, be careful. That only lets us know your location—it can’t help in a dangerous moment.”
Elisa nodded as she met Evan’s eyes.
“Yes. But this time, there was no other way. Sensing such faint mana isn’t easy. And this place is our only exit out of here.”
At her words, Evan looked toward the hut.
At that moment, a message window appeared before his eyes.
-You have discovered a Fragment of Knowledge from Ellecell’s Last World.
‘A Fragment of Knowledge from the Last World?’
It seemed that what Elisa had found was a hidden piece.