Midnight.
Stella woke to the sound of rustling.
The seat beside her was empty. That wasn’t unusual.
Even though she was the main wife, it didn’t mean she could monopolize Ian every night.
“Ian…?”
As she slowly opened her sleepy eyes, she spotted a figure—rummaging through something in her room.
The room was dim, lit only by the faint moonlight filtering through the curtains. Still, it was just enough to reveal the figure’s identity.
Ian, who had been packing something in Stella’s room, paused when he noticed her waking. He approached quietly and gently stroked her hair.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”
“…Where are you going?”
“Yeah… I’m heading out.”
He offered a small smile before slipping out of sight.
Stella, unsure whether it was reality or dream, lay still. Despite knowing she should get up, she remained frozen, unable to move.
Maybe it really was just a dream.
She closed her eyes again.
And drifted back to sleep.
***
Morning arrived.
The sun rose, and Stella woke to the sound of the academy commandments being read aloud.
With help from a maid, she completed her makeup and headed to the dining hall.
In a mansion where everyone stayed in separate rooms, breakfast was the only time they all gathered together.
Ian’s wives began to arrive, one by one.
“Haam—good morning.”
Syrah yawned into her hand as she entered, immediately glancing around the room in search of someone. There was only one person she had been looking for since she woke.
“Ian?”
“…Hmm. Whose turn was it last night?”
“Yesterday was a day off.”
Three wives and one concubine.
Ian, who had four wives, spent four nights a week with them—one night each. The remaining three nights were reserved for himself.
Although they were still newlyweds and often grumbled about only being with him once a week, they had no choice. Ian only had one body, and if he didn’t get adequate rest, they feared he would wither away.
“Good morning, everyone.”
“Good morning!”
While Syrah and Stella speculated about Ian’s whereabouts, Noah and Dinua arrived at the dining hall as well.
Once all four women were present, Stella gave an order to the maid standing nearby.
“Go check what Ian is doing.”
“Yes, understood.”
As the maid departed, unease began creeping into Stella’s chest. She recalled seeing Ian in the middle of the night—had that really been a dream?
Moments later, the maid returned, alone.
“He’s not in his room.”
“…What about the office?”
“He’s not in the office either…”
“So now the head of the household is missing, and no one knows where he went?”
The sharp tone in Stella’s voice caused the maid to tremble.
The master of the family was gone, and no one noticed?
While it wasn’t exactly the maid’s responsibility, this failure was enough to warrant reprimand from the guards.
Still, in a world ruled by the powerful, what could a maid do but tremble?
Seeing her distress, Stella gently waved her hand to dismiss the maid from the dining hall.
Once the woman bowed and left, Stella closed her eyes and raised a hand, summoning her glyph.
“Ifrit.”
[—Ahhh… Stella? What’s going on?]
“Last night… you didn’t see Ian?”
[—Ian? No, I didn’t. Why?]
“…Right. That’s all.”
Ignoring the question from her long-time summon, Stella returned Ifrit to her glyph.
At this point, not only Stella but the other wives began to feel genuine concern.
“W-What should we do!? What if Ian was kidnapped…?”
“It’s not a kidnapping. Who could possibly abduct a summoner? The demons, demon kings—they’ve all been defeated.”
“Then where is he?”
“If we knew that, we wouldn’t be panicking.”
Stella stood abruptly. None of them had touched their breakfast.
Food didn’t matter now.
“To disappear without telling his wives… when I find him, he won’t get off lightly.”
She had to find Ian—no matter what.
Especially since today was her turn to share the night with him.
“Let’s go. I know someone who might have a clue.”
***
Abyss.
Standing before the black pit—its name well deserved—the Blue Dragon pointed toward it and spoke.
[—This is the place you were talking about.]
“Hmm… It just looks ominous, doesn’t it?”
[—That’s how it appears to us too. Are you sure this leads to Heaven?]
“I don’t know.”
With that, Ian began tossing stones and debris into the abyss.
Everything that fell into the pit vanished without a sound.
According to the game’s settings, this hole was supposed to be the passage to Heaven.
But Heaven had long since been tainted—corrupted by the Demon King.
Aside from whether the Demon King had left this as the only path to heaven, Ian was extremely reluctant to throw himself into that abyss.
“This is awful.”
It looked like something straight out of a Lovecraftian nightmare. If a tentacle monster had an an-us, Ian imagined it would look exactly like this—horrifying enough to devour sanity itself.
Still, Ian had no choice but to go in. Whatever lay beyond… this had to be the end.
“Come on, come. You three.”
[In the first place, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to lend power to a single human being…]
[Even if the entire world were on the brink of collapse, we can’t intervene so freely.]
[If the world perishes, then so be it…]
They had said so in the past, but now…
The companions called forth by the Blue Dragon answered. Except for the Phoenix, who had already become Noah’s summon, the Blue Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Turtle all poured their power into Ian’s summoning pattern at once.
Since Ian could only summon six creatures at a time, Sylphy and Pink were unfortunately moved into the summon system for now.
“Alright then… shall we go?”
With the Protectors as his summon, Ian dove straight into the abyss. The sight alone was enough to drive him mad, so he closed his eyes and leapt.
***
Time passed—how much, he couldn’t tell. Even with his eyes shut, the sensation of passing through the void was maddening.
Ian finally regained consciousness when the voices of his summons rang in his ears.
[Master! Up ahead!]
“Yes?”
When he opened his eyes, the grotesque wall had disappeared. In its place stood a black-winged angel.
[Lv. ??? Fallen Archangel]
“Ah, so this is the final one?”
Ian smiled and summoned his creatures. Even if his enemy was something that inspired unbearable fear and hatred, as long as it had a measurable level, he wasn’t afraid.
Fighting and overcoming fear took courage. But defeating a leveled monster—that was the summons’ responsibility.
His summoned beasts appeared immediately and swiftly eliminated the archangel. Then they began to survey the surroundings.
“This place is…”
“An angel, huh? That’s amazing.”
[You sound too excited. Is this really heaven?]
While his summons examined the area, Ian inspected the fallen archangel’s body.
‘This guy… he never appeared in the game.’
Ian laughed dryly. There had never been any content in the game where an archangel appeared as an enemy. The game’s main adversaries were demons; there had never been a reason to fight angels.
Angels only appeared during certain events—and even then, never in combat.
The fact that she was able to fight one now meant the system, which had once tried to faithfully follow the game’s logic, had already been completely broken.
“Master?”
“…Let’s go. Everyone, stay alert.”
“Understood.”
Ian led his summons deeper inside. If this was truly heaven, there was only one significant structure: a temple where a divine presence seemed to reside.
A dome-shaped roof marked its location.
“Summoner—should I just blow it up?”
“Tempting… but let’s go inside first.”
“Looks dangerous though, right?”
“I don’t think the one in there is foolish enough to fall for the same tactic twice.”
Ian had already used the strategy of collapsing the Demon Castle before entering the Demon King’s domain. But now, with what appeared to be a Demon King having tainted and seized control of heaven, it was possible that attempting the same approach would backfire.
The Empress reluctantly agreed and began placing a barrier around them.
“Let’s go.”
Upon entering, Ian immediately noticed the blackened walls. This place, too, had been corrupted.
It resembled nothing he had ever seen on Earth—it was just like the Demon King’s Nest from the Demon King’s Castle.
In other words, this place was a kind of womb, a twisted nest where tainted angels were born.
“Blue Dragon. Burn it all.”
[Don’t give me orders.]
Despite the retort, the Blue Dragon unleashed lightning in every direction. Bolts exploded across the walls, destroying the grotesque eggs clinging to them—and in doing so, awakened the true master of this domain.
The Demon King who had polluted heaven.
[Why did you come here?]
A voice saturated with malice.
Its hostility surged toward Ian and his summons.
[You should’ve stayed on Earth.]
Black tears began to stream down the walls and onto the floor.
Sorrow. Madness. Denial.
[Die.]
A death-infused aura crashed down upon Ian.