Chapter 214: OZ (11)

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a green city.

The laboratory had vanished without a trace.

An emerald backdrop awaited us in its place.

Like Seoul's skyscrapers, the surrounding buildings rose straight and high into the sky.

'Damn it, it came to this after all...'

I couldn't help groaning at the familiar sight.

Project-Emerald City.

A landscape I had encountered time and again in bad endings involving Oz.

He had finally completed the project, and my companions and I had stepped into that city.

'And of all places, the center.'

We had landed in the heart of this green city.

The densely packed high-rises gave the place an inexplicably overwhelming presence.

"Sir Viktor? Just what is this city...?"

"It's Oz's domain. Stay alert and watch your surroundings."

Ranne and I shielded the Alice sisters as we kept watch around us.

A sinister aura rippled through the air from every direction.

Ranne's tension was plain to see.

"To think a single person could create a domain of this scale..."

"He's practically the leader of the Cult."

"I've never even heard of anything like this."

"If something like this happened often enough for people to hear about it, the world would've ended long ago."

The domain's scale was overwhelming.

According to the setting, Emerald City covered 600 square kilometers. It was as large as Seoul.

'The worst part is that this city keeps expanding.'

A domain that swallowed reality and continuously grew by feeding on it.

The reality it absorbed became part of Emerald City.

'This time, it swallowed the laboratory's eleventh through twentieth basement floors...'

It had created such a monstrous domain by devouring nothing more than a few underground levels.

Just imagine it covering the entire continent.

The thought alone was dizzying.

'I need to settle this as quickly as possible.'

As I broke out in a cold sweat, I suddenly noticed a shadow hanging in the air.

A man floated motionlessly between the buildings.

<Welcome.>

<You insects, not even worthy of being called ants.>

Oz stood on the air itself as he looked down at us.

His white doctor's coat fluttered in the city wind.

<Give up already.>

<From the moment the project was completed, your chances of victory became zero.>

Kuuuu-.

With a single gesture from Oz, the towering buildings began to move like living creatures.

Hundred-meter serpents writhed as they stared us down.

We looked like mice thrown into a pit of venomous snakes.

<In this place, I am no different from a god.>

<You are nothing but flying insects.>

Even now, Oz's domain was sucking the life force out of the real world.

The interior of the domain was no exception.

I could feel my strength gradually draining away.

<Hmm hmm, do you really have the leisure to worry about the outside?>

<You don't have time, you know?>

<In thirty minutes, all your life force will have been drained away.>

<And once you die, you too will become nourishment for this great city.>

Oz was brimming with confidence.

As he said, the situation was hopelessly unfavorable.

"Phew..."

Even so, all I could do was fight.

I walked between the buildings.

"Miss Ranne. Please take care of the other two."

"Yes, Sir Viktor."

I gripped a scythe and the Balloon Knife.

Multicolored light leaked from my hand.

[Skill Name: Vitality Charge!]

-Light emitted from this weapon replenishes vitality.

-Vitality is absorbed by the designated target, restoring their basic energy, such as stamina, mana, and aura.

It was the Balloon Knife's built-in skill.

I planned to use it to slow the rate at which our vitality drained, even if only a little.

"......Then, here I go."

Thwack!

I immediately leaped toward Oz.

The faceless man mocked me.

<What a futile struggle.>

The entire city moved.

Buildings took flight and charged at me like a herd of beasts.

The structures swam through the sky, gradually surrounding me.

Kugugugugu-!

Their encirclement moved in perfect coordination.

It was as if the entire city were one living organism.

<Stop resisting and die.>

The skyscrapers charged at me with terrifying force.

I quickly spread my fingers.

[Omen of the Apocalypse]

-Category: Activation Skill

-Rank: A

-Attribute: Isolation, Domain

-Description: A skill known to be used by the Red Knight and the Black Knight among the Four Knights of the Apocalypse. Upon activation, it creates a barrier up to one kilometer wide around the caster. Targets struck by the skill are trapped inside the barrier with the caster. The greater the caster's mana, the stronger and more enduring the barrier becomes, and the wider its range.

"Open."

I uttered the brief activation command.

A pitch-black domain immediately wrapped around me.

A thin barrier coated my body.

I compressed it to its limit, creating its hardest possible form.

Kuuuuung-!

The buildings that rushed in a moment later slammed into me.

They shattered to pieces.

A faint shock ran through my body.

By then, Oz had already reached me.

"......?!"

<You won't be able to keep up with my speed here.>

Tap.

His palm touched the barrier.

-Oz Style Life, Unique Magic Second Form-

'Gestation'

Crash!

The domain I had compressed to its limit broke with ease.

A follow-up attack slipped through the fractured shadows.

Oz's palm flew toward me once more.

-Oz Style Life, Unique Magic Third Form-

'Death'

Death surged toward me in a writhing mass.

I barely reacted in time.

Piiing!

The Balloon Knife narrowly parried the magic.

The pitch-black mass was deflected, then exploded high in the sky and shook heaven and earth.

<Oh.>

It was an attack that would've killed me if it had landed directly.

Oz murmured in admiration.

<No matter how many times I see it, that is a remarkable power. It outright defies the laws of the world.>

I gripped my scythe tightly and swung it straight across.

Oz had already put distance between us.

<Then how about this?>

-Oz Style Life, Unique Magic Seventh Form-

'Full Bloom'

The next moment, Oz multiplied into dozens of identical copies.

Were they clones?

Every single one of them was strong enough to be indistinguishable from the original.

Magic poured forth simultaneously from dozens of figures.

-Oz Style Life, Unique Magic Third Form-

'Death'

-Oz Style Life, Unique Magic Third Form-

'Death'

-Oz Style Life, Unique Magic Third Form-

'Death'

I mixed bugs into my steps and frantically parried the incoming spells.

But I didn't have the stamina to withstand that kind of overwhelming assault.

In the end, one attack got through.

<There's an opening.>

"Ugh...?!"

-Oz Style Life, Unique Magic Ninth Form-

'Pulsation'

Even the Mask of the Evil God had exhausted its charges.

I quickly unfolded the scythe in my hand.

"Activate, Shield...!"

Kwanggg-!!

I barely defended against it, but I couldn't escape the aftereffects.

The magic's shockwave pierced through the shield and struck me directly.

I was sent crashing into the building across from me.

"Keheok...!"

A harsh gasp escaped me.

For a moment, I had to steady my spinning vision.

"Khk, ngh..."

When I glanced down, my right arm was a mess.

It had been shredded to rags, to the point that moving a single finger was difficult.

It felt like several ribs had broken as well.

"Phew..."

I suppressed the rising pain and forced out a calm breath.

Dozens of Ozes stared down at me from the sky.

They clapped in unison.

Clap.

The dozens of Ozes became hundreds.

Clap.

The hundreds of Ozes became thousands.

"......Ha, fuck."

Shadows filled the sky.

I let out a hollow laugh.

<I believe I've given you plenty of chances. Now I will kill you.>

"Cough, huff... Such absurd strength."

<I am pleased by the compliment. As thanks, I will let you die comfortably.>

"Haha... I don't want to die just yet, though."

The Ozes aimed their palms at me.

Demonic energy soon gathered, bearing the fruit of death.

I lay sprawled on the ground, powerless.

'Do I have to use it?'

Clicking my tongue, I tightly gripped the paper hidden inside my clothes.

The last remaining Reward Selection Ticket.

'I was planning to save it...'

Having been driven this far, I had no other choice.

As I was about to tear up the final ticket...

Kugugugugu-!!

A thunderous tearing sound crossed the sky.

At the sudden roar, Oz and I looked up.

<Hmm...?>

Pitch-black mist spread over the city above us.

Playing cards and chess pieces poured down like rain.

The familiar lingering scent of a dream brushed against my nose.

'...This...'

Among the dancing soldiers, I saw a girl draped in pitch-black shadows.

She looked like a queen, dressed in a crown, cape, and armor.

Alice, in her complete [Black Queen] form, stood upon the air.

A massive eagle flew at her side, while the three queens who ruled dreams stood beneath her.

"Stop, Oz."

The Queen of Hearts.

The Red Queen.

The White Queen.

The women lowered their heads as though venerating the girl.

Alice, now the ruler of dreams, stared straight at the man before her.

"I won't let you hurt the people precious to me anymore..."

Then an even greater world covered the green city.

A miraculous alert rang out before my eyes.

Ding!

[Phenomenon 'Wonderland (???)' is manifesting.]

[Welcome to Wonderland.]

A domain overwhelming another domain.

Only then could I finally relax and go limp.

A relieved, satisfied smile spread across my face.

"Yeah, I knew I could count on you..."

Come.

Wonderland.