Translator: Pai_
The moment Iron finished speaking, he leapt into the air.
Rather than stepping up the stairs one by one, he intended to fly up.
Then, a barrier spread out in the air.
As if to say he must ascend by way of the stairs, a powerful force pulled Iron downward.
“Owl!”
At Iron’s call, Two Moons flew up with Iron on its back.
As it resisted the suppressive force of the dark mana and ascended, Two Moons fired two beams of light from its massive eyes.
Jiiing!
Two beams of light stretched out like lasers and struck the barrier.
Then Phoenix and the Thunder Bird joined their strength from above.
As a result, with a tremendous explosion, the shattered fragments of the barrier scattered.
-How arrogant.
Watching Iron break through the barrier and fly up, the silver-haired woman moved her hand.
At that moment, the space rippled and pulled Iron downward.
‘It’s not just space.’
It was brief, but Iron felt time itself twisting.
He should have moved forward, but time rewound instead, pushing Iron and the divine beasts back.
Cold sweat ran down Iron’s forehead as he sensed this.
‘You control space and time?’
Even Iron, who had fought gods, was stunned by the ability.
However, it was not perfect like divine authority.
Grit!
Iron clenched his teeth and infused power into his sword.
In response to his will, divine power reacted and instantly formed a white sword.
Kuuwoong!
With a massive explosion, he cut through the force that had been binding him.
Then the divine beasts also joined forces.
With the combined power of Two Moons, Phoenix, and the Thunder Bird, a transcendent skill manifested.
A light capable of killing even a god was fired, and Iron’s white sword followed.
Kiiing!
With Iron’s all-out attack, her magic was completely destroyed.
However, with one defensive barrier remaining, the divine beasts’ attack dissipated, and Iron’s white sword stopped just before her.
-Tsk! The pride of a martial artist is truly annoying.
She frowned slightly as she looked at Iron.
Not only was it troublesome that he skillfully used a transcendent skill only seen from seasoned Grand Masters, but the sheer amount of power he held was incomparable to an ordinary Grand Master.
And the problem was that this wasn’t the end.
Through her long experience, she realized Iron still had much power and strength left untapped.
‘There’s also Baepsae, and Hræsvelgr is still left.’
Iron stood before her thinking this.
As he thought, he could amplify his divine power to create an even stronger white sword, or apply more pressure through Hræsvelgr.
Realizing this, the silver-haired woman furrowed her brow.
Just as Iron had hidden his strength, she too had not yet used all her power, but it was meaningless.
She was not Iron’s enemy.
At most, her pride had been a bit bruised.
But even that meant little to her, who had lived as a merchant for countless years.
-Tsk!
The moment the silver-haired woman clicked her tongue and withdrew the barrier, the towering temple slowly descended.
Then, the floating stairs in the air began to vanish one by one.
[You have forced the Dimensional Shop Owner to acknowledge you. You have achieved an unbelievable feat.]
-All quests cleared in a short time. A bonus is being calculated.
-A bonus is being calculated for forcing the Dimensional Shop Owner to acknowledge you.
-Corrupted beings want to trade with you through the Dimensional Shop Owner.
-The Dimensional Shop Owner who acknowledged you wishes to engage in a special trade with you.
The temple, which had been sunk into the ground by the Dimensional Shop Owner, began to transform.
As the temple changed, the surrounding scenery also transformed.
“Hmm……”
Iron looked around with a flustered expression at the changed scene.
-Are you flustered?
At the Dimensional Shop Owner’s words, Iron furrowed his brow.
But he couldn’t refute her words.
From Iron’s perspective, it was indeed a situation enough to cause confusion.
‘It’s been a while……’
A familiar landscape.
Because it was the scenery of Earth, where he had lived before coming to this place in the past.
However, it was slightly different from what Iron knew.
-I have brought the current scenery of your homeland.
At her words, Iron silently looked at her.
‘Is there a reason she’s showing me this scenery?’
As Iron was thinking that, she opened her mouth again.
-First, congratulations on clearing all quests.
The Dimensional Shop Owner said so with a gentle smile.
Then, fireworks exploded in the air, and their contents rained down over Iron’s head.
“What exactly is the Dimensional Shop?”
-It is a kind of secret function set up in a certain area during the God Game. It is a place limited to heroes, meant to reward them based on their achievements.
“Then those murals…”
-They are the guests who have visited this place. You too will be painted as a mural.
At her words, Iron tilted his head.
“What about the mural at the entrance?”
After a brief silence, she quietly opened her mouth in response to Iron’s question.
-It is the hero who accomplished the greatest feat in this place long ago. Since it had been a while since someone came here, I put special effort into creating it.
She smiled proudly as she said that.
-If you manage to prevent the Destruction, I will personally paint you there.
She said that and clicked her tongue as if regretful.
-What a shame. If only you had held out a little longer...
She trailed off.
There must have been something beneficial to her if she had remained undiscovered.
“So you were hoping not to be discovered.”
-…….
“Well, that explains why you hid it so thoroughly.”
At Iron’s words, the Dimensional Shop Owner spoke with a hint of regret.
-Well… originally, it was supposed to be very hard to find, but because of the blundering of those external gods, it was exposed so easily.
With an annoyed expression, the Dimensional Shop Owner looked at Iron.
-Tsk! You lucky bastard. If only they’d held back a bit longer… sigh!
As she sighed and spoke, Iron quietly asked,
“Is there a time limit to the Dimensional Shop?”
-The Dimensional Shop only opens temporarily until the Apocalypse begins in earnest and Destruction proceeds in full.
“Ah…”
If her words were true, then Iron really was lucky.
-If those foolish gods hadn’t interfered, your chances of discovering it would have been extremely low. Tsk! Because they tried to open the Dimensional Shop illegally, only the corrupted energy spread out around it. Well, thanks to that, you ended up here.
“Wait. You said the corrupted energy spread out?”
-Yes. The corrupted energy around the Dimensional Shop was being sealed within a barrier. But external gods tampered with it, which caused this. Well… thanks to that, the system got pissed and started throwing rewards at humans…
At the Dimensional Shop Owner’s words, Iron had a blank expression.
“When was that?”
-Around… when the first chapter of the Apocalypse began, I think? I’m not exactly sure.
“Ha…”
At her words, Iron had a hollow expression.
It was around the time the external gods took control of the Holy Alliance. But back then, he hadn’t known they were making such blunders.
‘No wonder it felt like the rewards were excessive…’
If the external gods hadn’t messed things up, he wouldn’t have received so many rewards. And without those, he might not have made it this far, just thinking that made him break out in a cold sweat.
“Why the hell would they make such a blunder?”
-Because they had something to gain too. Well… they probably took a lot of the chaotic energy here and did something with it, but I don’t know the details. And to begin with, gods don’t acknowledge the system.
“They don’t acknowledge it?”
-Those arrogant bastards tried to do things on their own rather than rely on the power of the system that exists above them.
At her words, Iron immediately realized what that meant.
The ritual to summon a god’s descent.
The corrupted energy used to build that came from the Dimensional Shop.
In the end, it was thanks to their arrogance that humanity was able to win.
Unlike them, who refused to acknowledge the system, humanity actively embraced it, and that led to victory.
“Don’t tell me… the ancient species too?”
-Well, they’re beings on par with gods, so it’s probably the same.
Only now could he truly understand why the system had showered humans with so many rewards.
Because humans were the weakest, they had no choice but to rely on the system, and from the system’s perspective, it was those humans that it liked the most.
‘Does the system have emotions too?’
As Iron thought that, tilting his head, he wondered whether it might be a being with emotions, despite its mechanical voice. At that moment, the Dimensional Shop Owner opened her mouth.
-Since you’ve roughly learned what you wanted to know, shall we get down to business?
As she said that, she lightly waved her hand.
Then, a system window appeared in front of Iron.
[Reward Options (Accrued merits during the Destruction period + Dimensional Shop Quest rewards)]
1. Halve the number of Gates + Inflict a massive debuff on all Corrupted Beings.
2. Growth buff for all of humanity + Large-scale buff to all of humanity.
3. 100 million top-tier weapons + Large-scale magic tool generator (time-limited until the end of the Destruction).
4. Provide top-class scientific technology + top-class magical technology.
5. Divine-grade equipment + Divine-grade skill.
-Now! Choose one.
The Dimensional Shop Owner drew a gentle arc at her lips as she spoke to Iron.
She wore an expression that showed curiosity about which one he would choose.
Option 4 would raise the overall technological level, and option 3 would enhance the military strength of all humanity. Option 2 would do much the same.
In contrast, option 5 only enhanced Iron’s personal power.
Since no one knew what kind of beings would appear once the Destruction began, strengthening Iron himself was important, but strengthening humanity as a whole was also crucial.
From Iron’s point of view, option 1 was the one that fulfilled both conditions to some extent.
If the enemy's power decreased, Iron would find it easier to deal with them, and so would humanity as a whole.
“Option 1.”
-You've abandoned personal greed?
The Dimensional Shop Owner looked surprised.
Setting aside divine-grade equipment, even the scientific technology or top-tier weapons could have been used by Iron personally, as much as he wanted.
But options 1 and 2 required someone to let go of personal desire.
“What use is greed in the face of Destruction…”
At Iron’s words, the Dimensional Shop Owner smiled and nodded.
-Well… you’re not wrong.
As she said that, she clapped her hands with a sharp “clap!”
In that moment…
[Due to the Dimensional Shop reward, the number of Gates is being reduced!]
[A powerful barrier is cast over the entire world. Due to this barrier, the power of Corrupted Beings entering through the Gates will be drastically weakened!]
At the sound of the system’s voice, a satisfied smile appeared on Iron’s face.
The chances of withstanding the Destruction had increased once more.
The Gates being cut in half meant their numbers had been reduced by half, and their power was also greatly weakened, this was something they could fight through.
-We might actually survive the Destruction now.
She murmured as she stared intently at Iron.
Since becoming the Dimensional Shop Owner, she had seen countless heroes.
Among them were many who had cleared the storyline of Destruction and ultimately faced the true end.
But even those heroes crumbled before the true Destruction.
There were beings stronger than Iron, and even civilizations more advanced than current humanity, but they all collapsed in the face of Destruction.
However, this world was more fortunate than any before.
A civilization that had risen somewhat thanks to Otherworlders and the system, and Iron, who led humanity, was strong enough to be considered among the upper tier of all the heroes who had come to the Dimensional Shop.
In this situation, a massive debuff had been inflicted on the Corrupted Beings.
-They must be feeling desperate.
At the sudden voices that echoed, the Dimensional Shop Owner chuckled softly.
As she suddenly laughed, Iron looked puzzled, and at that moment she spoke.
-The beings of Destruction say they want to make a deal.
“…A deal?”
At Iron’s question, she gave a small nod.
At that moment, a system window appeared in front of Iron.
[Mediation Proposal to the Hero]
-Return to your original world, Earth, as it is.
※ Reward Options:
1. We will delay the invasion of Earth.
2. Limit the invasion to the Auzria Continent for 10 years.
3. One set of divine-grade equipment + one divine skill granted.
4. Advanced technology will be handed over to Earth.
As Iron frowned while reading the reward options, the Dimensional Shop Owner waved her arm.
-For reference, this is the current state of Earth.
The moment she waved her arm, a view of Earth was shown.
The image of Earth shown by the Dimensional Shop Owner was not the Earth Iron remembered.
It was a scene of endless battles against monsters.
It was the same world he had struggled through in his previous life.
***
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