By Zephyria 
[Death and Beauty blink.]
To be precise, they were ‘things’ that resembled Tae-un. Posters of various sizes covering the entire wallpaper, plush dolls filling the display cases, ball-jointed dolls the size of elementary school students, a body pillow over two meters long, bed sheets, various types of figures, cross-stitches and jigsaw puzzles hanging on the walls, countless keyrings and photo cards, and so on.
Everything was Tae-un.
“…….”
The people who witnessed clear evidence that the Id Portal’s host was someone related to Tae-un fell silent. Amidst an awkward silence where no one could find the words to speak, Pi Min-hyeong placed a hand on Tae-un’s shoulder, pretending to be serious.
“Another stalker?”
“…….”
“I thought I knew all the types of merch Eun-ho and Han-gyeol made and sold, but there are a lot of things here I’ve never seen. Or did the host make these personally?”
“……Fuck.”
Leaving Tae-un to clutch his forehead, Kim Si-baek stepped inside and looked around. Judging by the distinctly strengthened magical energy, it seemed the entire space was the Portal Keeper of the inner core. More than that…
Kim Si-baek opened the door of a display case and took out a plush doll. He stroked the scar on the left cheek of the plush doll, which was dressed neatly in a suit, and felt its body. It was soft and cute. Just like the baby fat of a young Tae-un, whom he had fed well enough to be proud of, making him plump.
“Do they sell dolls like this these days? It’s really cute, like your belly fat when you were little. Where can I buy one?”
“Hyung……”
[Death and Beauty say they cannot imagine the author having belly fat.]
“Kids should be plump overall because they eat well, not just in the belly. Anyway……”
Kim Si-baek tightened his grip on the plush doll. The doll, which had begun to squirm, suddenly burst, spraying not cotton, but the entrails and bodily fluids of a magical beast.
And so, the final attack defending the core began. With Tae-un’s merchandise coming to life.
“Hahaha! Isn’t it every otaku’s dream for merch to come to life and move?!”
“Shut up!”
‘I remember telling Un-i a ghost story about dolls coming to life at night, and he was so scared he couldn’t sleep…’
Even while immersed in memories, Kim Si-baek drew his sabre in a long arc. One side of the rattling display case and the merchandise inside were all smashed to pieces, but they were regenerated instantly. It seemed to be a species that divided and proliferated.
‘It doesn’t seem to be copying and using Un-i’s ability.’
By the way, what was the trait Tae-un awakened? He hadn’t heard it properly. Kim Si-baek glanced at Tae-un, who was gripping something long and pitch-black in his left hand and swinging it like a spear.
The merchandise was proliferating far faster than the hunters could annihilate them. While they lacked significant offensive power, the magical beasts—clumping together like a single mass of flesh, proliferating infinitely and devouring everything around them—exerted a pressure of their own. These creatures, which seemed to originate from gluttony, would surely devour humans as well.
“Why is Tae-un oppa’s life-size pillow so scantily clad? It’s disgusting. It’s visual pollution. What was the purpose of making this? Narcissism to show off the body?”
“I didn’t make it!”
“Ah, damn. They drew Tae-un’s chest so huge. Your chest isn’t that big, is it? A manifestation of the desire to become that large?”
“You’re dead once we get out of here, you sexual harasser.”
Pi Min-hyeong and Seo Gae-un took the opportunity to tease him relentlessly while destroying the merchandise, but the proliferation was gradually accelerating.
The hunters were already exhausted from the accumulated damage of successive battles. The front line, which had been pushed back bit by bit, eventually had to retreat outside the lounge, and the department store walls, which had never been damaged by human strength, finally cracked under the pressure of the magical beasts. And as soon as they cracked, they were devoured and vanished.
Suppressed screams were heard from the civilians hiding at the far end of the hallway. Gwak Yun-sang’s face stiffened with tension. To be honest, it was true that they had some breathing room because there were three S-classes, but the Portal Keeper was unexpectedly formidable. It was truly rare for a Portal Keeper this strong to appear.
“G-Guild Master. Would it be difficult to just… swallow all those gu— I mean, magical beasts?”
“The proliferation speed is faster than the swallowing speed, so I can’t. It would be possible if I expanded my domain and swallowed all the people too.”
This meant it was possible if he killed everyone else along with the Portal Keeper.
Tae-un’s expression remained unchanged, but at that answer, not only Gwak Yun-sang but the other hunters turned deathly pale.
Kim Si-baek asked Tae-un while attacking the magical beasts.
“Is there no other way?”
“External strikes work, so we should induce proliferation to collapse the department store and beat it down. Once the interior is exposed by the impact, we’ll be able to tell where the core is.”
His tone was nonchalant, but it wouldn’t be easy. Even if the group consisted only of combat-proficient hunters, guiding magical beasts and evacuating from a collapsing building in a real-life situation without training is never easy. Moreover, there were civilians to protect.
Kim Si-baek gauged his divine power. He felt he could do it once if he squeezed it all out, but completely exhausting an apostle’s divine power was an act that would also impact the connected god. Furthermore, divine power was extremely limited on Earth, and Biyendwe was an avatar, not the main body.
Reading his hesitation, Biyendwe responded first.
[Death and Beauty respond.]
“Thank you, Biyendwe.”
[Death and Beauty say that even if your god is powerless, young, and weak, it is still divinity.]
Having received Biyendwe’s permission, Kim Si-baek took a step back. Unlike the hunters who were bewildered by the sudden gap in the front line, Kim Si-baek’s voice remained calm.
“Un-ah, can you buy me about five minutes of time, including my share?”
“Okay.”
Tae-un’s answer was prompt and devoid of any doubt. He didn’t even ask why. The void left by Kim Si-baek’s absence was quickly filled.
Standing straight with his sabre held high, Kim Si-baek closed his eyes and rapidly recited a prayer. If it had been a world brimming with divinity like mak slecht, it was a prayer that could have been handled with a simplified version.
The radiance emitted by the god’s apostle gradually became brilliant. The hunters fighting in front felt their bodies gain strength as the spreading light touched them, and the civilians watching desperately from behind felt a sense of peace from the warm light.
“……Therefore, Your servant dares to request.”
The magical beasts instinctively knew that the light was their natural enemy and became ferocious, as if having a seizure. All that malice was blocked by Tae-un.
Tae-un’s shadow spread forward with a thick, pool-like texture, swallowing everything it touched. Not only the magical beasts rushing in to devour, but also the debris of the destroyed building and even a weapon dropped by a hunter. Everything.
A scene unfolded where the Portal Keeper, which had been gluttonously devouring everything in its path while proliferating endlessly, was instead being eaten. The advance of the surging magical beasts stopped for a moment. If they had vocal cords and a mouth, they would have screamed.
The proliferation of the magical beasts, which had spread as if to devour everything, slowed down slightly. The magical beasts soon split to the sides and extended their bodies. It looked as if they were avoiding Tae-un’s darkness. The darkness chased them, expanding its domain.
Gwak Yun-sang came up with a chilling hypothesis.
‘Don’t tell me this guy has been playing coy and pretending to be weak even in this situation?!’
Suddenly, it occurred to him that despite fighting such a powerful Portal Keeper, none of the hunters had been seriously injured. Pretending to be weak while secretly helping others avoid major injuries—wasn’t that more of a circus act than a display of overwhelming skill?
And just what on earth was the structure of Kim Si-baek’s eyes that a man whose head popped up above a vending machine looked frail and sickly to him?
While Gwak Yun-sang trembled, the hunters hurriedly moved their positions to avoid being swallowed by the darkness of the shadows. Tae-un alone handled their empty spots, blocking the magical beasts.
All of this happened while Kim Si-baek had his eyes closed in prayer.
After a moment, Kim Si-baek opened his eyes, looked at the magical beasts that filled his vision, and slowly lowered his upright sabre as if drawing a line. The end of the prayer was completed.
“O Death. Please reap the lives that are not beautiful.”
The god responded to the apostle’s petition. The moment the absolute premise of death descended upon the space dominated by gluttony, the party witnessed a miracle-like annihilation.