Chapter 175

Chapter 175
## The Most Dreadful Fiend [Conclusion of Volume 7]

Karas delved into his memories.

A half-decade prior.

The image of the Champion who had arrived at the spire, masking the ‘Shansa’ invocation.

Initially, he hadn’t given the individual much thought.

Even though he ascended the levels with haste, such talented warriors were not unheard of.

His indifference remained even when the challenger reached the 20th floor to face him.

‘It was a lapse in judgment.’

He ought to have finished him right then.

However, Karas reigned as the spire’s sovereign, revered as the Deity of Combat.

He had triumphed in their opening bout but granted him life out of pity.

That was his undoing.

Following that encounter, the Champion pursued him with obsessive frequency.

Permitting this, labeling him a ‘stubborn wretch,’ had planted the seeds of ruin.

‘Shansa scrutinized my every detail.’

Everything regarding himself and the spire.

Shansa. That primeval fiend dug through data thought to be completely unreachable, driven by a fixation beyond comprehension.

‘The Fiend of Fixation.’

It was a moniker that suited him flawlessly.

And through that insane persistence, it wasn’t long before he consumed his plumage, violently usurped the role of spire overseer, and seized the Champion’s throne.

Throughout the following four years, ‘Shansa’ stayed hidden.

Yet a year ago, that Fiend of Fixation shifted his focus upon encountering Wilhelm.

‘Shansa coveted Wilhelm’s physical vessel in its entirety.’

He exhibited a mania even more profound than when he stole his own plumage.

Infallibly, day after day, without a moment of distraction, he watched Wilhelm perpetually.

It reached a point where it seemed he desired to transform into the very essence of Wilhelm.

Consequently, one year ago.

During the clash with Wilhelm, Karas offered a caution.

—Stay vigilant regarding Shansa.

…Yet for some reason, the struggle between Wilhelm and the Champion never occurred.

Why? Why had Shansa, who fixated so violently, abruptly altered his intent?

When he must have anticipated the duel with Wilhelm with a feverish madness.

Shansa declined the provocation offered by Wilhelm.

‘In retrospect, the scrutiny wasn’t finished.’

Looking back, it likely wasn’t because he failed to find flaws in Wilhelm’s being.

Karas, having fought Wilhelm, understood.

His magnitude.

He was a manifestation of flawless, even transcendent, power.

Gestures so disciplined they permitted not the smallest opening or misstep.

His blade paths, warping the fabric of space-time itself, were something even he had witnessed for the first time.

Even at full strength, whether victory was possible remained uncertain.

‘Shansa anticipated Wilhelm would provoke him once more.’

However, Wilhelm did not issue a second challenge.

The second his provocation was snubbed, Wilhelm abandoned the Deity of Combat Spire.

‘He departed to organize the Grand Crusade.’

The campaign to purge the fiend territories.

But ultimately, Wilhelm perished.

When his life ended and his spark disintegrated, Karas sensed that faint ‘surge of chaos’ rippling through the entire world.

The omen of things that had been dormant beginning to stir, and those in shadows stepping into the light.

In the midst of that, Shansa acted with stealth.

…And so, Shansa’s unparalleled fixation on Wilhelm enabled him to track down Wilhelm’s dispersed spark.

‘Emperor Penguin. If this individual truly is Wilhelm.’

Shansa would have already deciphered everything.

For the past twelve months, Shansa would have been deconstructing Wilhelm without pause.

Therefore, they could not be permitted to clash under these circumstances.

Even if it required forsaking the spire, even if it meant entombing Shansa within it, this insane fixation had to terminate.

If Shansa secured Wilhelm’s anatomy…

‘Shansa would finalize his transformation into a Great Fiend.’

He might rise as the sovereign of all fiends, ushering in another ruin.

The cataclysmic entity that had obliterated myriad worlds, cracked the spire, and shattered all equilibrium.

Allowing its return was unthinkable.

“…That blade…”

Creeeeak!

Instantly, a massive void ruptured the atmosphere.

From that pitch-black gap, a solitary blade manifested.

Yet, that ‘blade’ did not belong to Wilhelm.

Known as the Conqueror’s Blade, it was a tool that only the absolute peak among all Blade Sovereigns could command.

Simply put, it was one of the ‘Ancestral Blades.’

How was this possible?

“Conqueror’s Blade Sovereign…!”

Ah.

He had achieved ascension, after all.

To the most refined state of a Blade Sovereign.

But managing it was no simple task.

Even as the Conqueror’s Blade Sovereign, that weapon was once brandished by a ‘godhood.’

Even a flawless Wilhelm—whether he could utilize it was suspect.

To begin with, the entity that once used it was no more.

‘It is impossible to swing.’

Therefore, a blade that cannot be moved.

And yet.

‘Wait. He moved it?’

A solitary motion.

In that heartbeat, the Conqueror’s Blade erupted, slicing the void.

Kwaaaaaaaaang-!!!

—

‘What… is that…?’

Immediately after the Champion’s metamorphosis.

Stunned by that immense greed and the thick, foul odor, Auril felt her sanity slipping.

That primeval fiend took hold of everything.

If she remained motionless, her very soul would be erased.

But she could not permit that.

‘Sir Randolph.’

Because Randolph was present.

She couldn’t possibly run away and abandon him.

Was it due to their pact?

No, it wasn’t merely for that reason.

‘Ancestral Tree…’

Unlike common elves, noble elves mature in tandem with the ‘Ancestral Tree.’

The ‘Ancestral Tree,’ sprouted from the base of the World Tree, was the hallmark of a noble elf.

But Auril was a common elf.

Naturally, she possessed no ‘Ancestral Tree’ as proof of noble status.

However… observing Randolph cultivate her laurel foliage, for some reason, it brought the ‘Ancestral Tree’ to mind.

The Ancestral Tree provided every assistance, giving freely so noble elves could mature rapidly.

Though restricted by a ‘pact,’ her time with Randolph had caused Auril to develop at an incredible pace.

If this wasn’t an ‘Ancestral Tree,’ then what could it be?

“Run!”

She couldn’t allow Randolph to be consumed by that fiend.

Auril understood by intuition.

At this moment, Randolph was not ready to confront that fiend.

He must not engage it.

…The very second she had that thought.

Creeeeak!

A blade edge of truly immense proportions pierced through the sky.

Simultaneously, it felt as though the entire universe stopped.

Even the fiend gazed mindlessly at the blade.

Shortly, a ‘gigantic palm’ appeared, tearing through the void, and brandished the Conqueror’s Blade.

Kwaaaaaaaaang-!!!

The fiend was bifurcated along with the spire.

Its vermin-like form split in two as the fiend shrieked.

“Wh-what is that? How did you command the ‘Palm of God’…!”

Standing as the polar opposite of the fiend.

What all fiends dreaded were the entities known as gods.

But with the ruin, most gods had faded away.

Were they not merely clinging to existence, leaving only ghost-like echoes?

Thus, fiends began to swarm across the lands, for those who intimidated them were gone.

And yet.

From across that void just now, a ‘Palm of God’ had clearly struck.

“No. You… you are no deity!”

The Fiend of Fixation saw even what lay beyond the fabric of space.

That palm seemed divine at first glance, but it was not a deity.

It was something masquerading as a god.

Something that brandished the blade in place of a god that was no longer there.

The fiend quivered.

Not out of the terror of perishing, but because that ‘something’s’ nature horrified him completely.

For it traced a path entirely different from a deity’s.

And the ‘something’ that moved the blade, from over there—a spot only the fiend could perceive.

“You, you are… apoc…!”

Heh.

It gave a mocking grin.

—

《You have brandished the ‘Conqueror’s Blade.’》

《Cooldown is restricted.》

《To brandish the ‘Conqueror’s Blade’ once more, components of ‘Singular Supreme’ rank or higher are necessary.》

The spire was cloven along with the fiend.

Beyond the spire lay a deeper chasm.

“…Unthinkable.”

At the center, Karas spoke.

It truly defied belief.

He had erased the fiend’s true form in a single strike.

He had assumed that burying it within the spire was the solitary solution.

Yet it made light of such thoughts, finishing the task without even a second’s delay.

‘Even more inscrutable than the Wilhelm from a year ago.’

Karas had formed his opinion based only on the Wilhelm he battled a year prior.

But the man standing there now was reminiscent of Wilhelm yet maturing in a completely distinct fashion.

If evaluating raw potential alone… this was much more alarming.

Even his vision couldn’t measure it.

‘…He invoked a non-existent godhood.’

He could hardly trust what he saw.

A blade only deities could handle.

Even he, a scion of gods, wouldn’t dare try it.

Yet this man before him had summoned a godhood that didn’t exist.

‘The Despot Sovereign did so in ages past.’

The clan of Despotism controlled numerous spires.

Their sovereign could house a dozen godhoods within his frame.

Naturally, the Despot Sovereign fell along with the godhoods in the end.

“My plumage…”

Soon, Karas stared in shock at the dark wings blooming once again on his back.

What Shansa had stolen was restored.

He reclaimed his strength, becoming the spire’s rightful lord once more.

But that wasn’t the conclusion.

“That core…!”

Then, noticing what leaked from the fiend’s broken frame, Karas knit his brows.

The core of a primeval fiend.

Thump! Thump!

the moment he glimpsed it, his pulse hammered wildly.

Sluuuurp!

He even began to salivate.

His consciousness was filled only with the urge to seize it.

“Urgh…”

A hunger simmering even within his healed self.

That was hazardous.

An extraordinarily dangerous power.

the moment he took it, like the Champion, his anatomy would be hijacked by a fiend.

For that core was the fiend itself.

“…Clan of Despotism.”

Yet the man—Wilhelm—did not pause.

He walked toward the core unbothered, seizing it without a second thought.

Gulp!

And consumed it.

Then.

Fwoooooosh!

Dark cinders erupted across his entire frame.

…The authentic cinders of a fiend.

Had Shansa taken the reins?

‘Those cinders… are not Shansa’s.’

But Karas shook his head.

No.

Those fiendish cinders were not spawned from Shansa.

They clearly belonged to another fiend, incomparable to the likes of Shansa.

An entity gloomier than Shansa.

The one that consumed everything in existence!

“Ah.”

Grasping the true origin of the cinders, Karas shuddered.

Yet he couldn’t understand.

How could a fiend that vanished into the depths of history return to this world?

Among the seven primeval fiends, the one considered the most horrific.

The cinders were undeniably those of the one even all other fiends detested, dreaded, and fled from!

‘Why has that fiend returned to this realm…!’

—

《Retrieved the Named ‘Sun’s Spark.’》

《Wilhelm’s recollections are further solidified.》

《All parameters increase by 5 due to the ‘Spark Heir’ trait.》

《The ‘Sun’s Spark’ invokes ‘Resonances of the Past.’》

《From this point, you can utilize the distinctive talents of ‘Heavenly Dragon Legend’ and ‘PollockRoeConan.’》

《’Resonances of the Past’ triggers when retrieving the remains of a ‘played avatar’ or creating a new one.》

《The Gluttony latent quality consumes the core of the Fiend of Envy, Shansa.》

《Latent quality ‘Gluttony’ matures into ‘Avarice.’》