Chapter 213

Chapter 213
## Chapter 213: The Gluttonous Fiend

Raiga.

He was the sovereign of knights who had officially taken up the mantle of Palga.

In the long lineage of those who had wielded Palga’s power, he stood unrivaled as the most gifted.

He possessed a boundless aptitude and a bottomless craving for greater strength.

By dedicating his existence to the relentless practice of his craft, he eventually broke through into the domain of sword aura.

‘The place everyone spoke of as the ultimate peak was merely the beginning of the aura.’

This was a transcendent height that no successor, save for the original founder of Palga, had ever reached.

In the moment Raiga manifested a sword aura of absolute refinement, a tremor of excitement ran through him.

Yet, clarity followed immediately.

‘This isn’t the finish line; it’s the threshold. I have only just arrived at the starting gate.’

The realization hit him that he had merely stepped onto the path of true mastery.

From that point on, Raiga became a dealer of death to the horrors of the abyss and even beings worshipped as deities.

He cut down the rulers of territories that had remained unconquered by man for eras—monsters of the ‘Deeper Abyss,’ the ‘Judgment of Darkness,’ the ‘Skin Hybrid Queen,’ and the ‘Dusk Asura.’

All this was in pursuit of the ultimate zenith of combat.

He encountered others who could manifest a similar energy, but none provided the fulfillment he sought.

Their internal energies were tainted. They lacked the touch of absolute truth. They were nothing more than frauds draped in a facade of aura.

‘My soul is parched.’

He burned with a desperate spiritual thirst.

Was there truly no one capable of providing a real challenge?

Was there no genuine calamity in this world that could force his martial skills to evolve?

It was during this period of searching that the name ‘Wilhelm’ began to resonate across the lands, carrying a title of ‘Knight King’ that mirrored his own.

However, their paths never crossed.

—Collect the shards of ruin. Our sacred duty as the bearers of Palga is to inter them so that ‘Destruction’ can never be reborn.

This was the heavy burden passed down to every owner of Palga.

It was Raiga’s inescapable providence to track down and contain the fragments of annihilation to ensure the empire did not crumble.

The lineage of Palga had failed the ancient empire once before.

They could not allow history to repeat itself.

And so, years drifted by with his inner void remaining unfilled.

‘Baal. The terror that sits atop all martial logic. The very manifestation of unadulterated might!’

But then, he found it.

In a place he least expected, he stood across from a man who had completely subjugated Baal.

Furthermore… the ‘aura’ emanating from this individual held the same crystalline purity of mana as his own.

The form was flawless.

The equilibrium and flow were perfectly synchronized with nature.

The second he witnessed it, his spirit surged with the frantic desire to trade blows.

But he restrained himself.

To start a war within the walls of the imperial residence, where the glorious sovereign dwelt, would be the highest form of betrayal.

The Reaper Church and the Golden Mask would never permit such a disturbance.

He had nearly accepted that this encounter would remain a missed opportunity.

‘Destiny is a strange thing.’

…The fool had walked straight into the private sanctuary of Palga of his own volition.

Only those carrying the obscured ‘Mutation’ quality could perceive or step into this hidden world.

Statistically, the chance of a human surviving with the ‘Mutation’ trait was less than one in ten thousand.

And only from those rare survivors could a true heir to Palga be chosen.

The power of Mutation wasn’t just about seeing hidden doors or walking secret roads.

‘Those with Mutation grow stronger by claiming the gifts of their fallen kin.’

Palga had preserved its dominance through the ages by feeding on that specific trait.

Perhaps this individual in the goat mask had mastered ‘Baal’ through that very same mechanism.

Regardless.

‘You are still no match for my sword aura.’

It was impressive that the stranger hadn’t been obliterated the moment their energies collided.

But that was where the praise ended.

As their auras clashed, the way the opponent’s energy flickered and swayed with every impact proved it was a power borrowed from Baal, rather than earned.

It was evident that this wasn’t a level of mastery reached through personal struggle and training alone.

“Tch.”

He let out a sharp, disappointed click of his tongue.

His hopes had been high because the man seemed to have tamed Baal so thoroughly.

In the end, it wasn’t enough to satisfy his longing.

Perhaps this hunger would haunt him until his final breath…

‘Wait?’

In the middle of his growing boredom.

Raiga found himself pausing, his curiosity piqued.

‘The atmosphere has shifted.’

A change had occurred.

Within their exchange of power.

Suddenly, the goat-masked man’s erratic sword aura began to anchor itself.

His resolve seemed to thicken and deepen.

That sensation was…

‘He has poured his spirit into the blade. He is no longer separate from his weapon.’

The fusion of soul and steel.

But there was more to it than that.

‘…It’s impossible.’

As he understood what was happening, Raiga could only marvel in silence.

What kind of creature was this?

‘Is he finding enlightenment while fighting for his life against me?’

He had never witnessed such audacity.

It went beyond mere shock—it was insulting.

While locked in a life-or-death struggle with an adversary who could end him in a heartbeat, he was undergoing a spiritual evolution.

He was covered in openings.

The goat-masked warrior pushed forward, refining his aura based on these new flashes of insight.

His focus wasn’t even on the duel anymore; his mind was wandering in a completely different dimension.

What was he looking at?

Raiga had fought many who realized their limitations when faced with his overwhelming power…

‘But not a single soul has ever evolved by using my blade as a whetstone.’

What did enlightenment actually mean?

It was the act of identifying one’s own flaws.

But that required the combatants to be on a somewhat similar level.

When the chasm in ability was too vast, one couldn’t learn anything from a few exchanges.

Usually, the weaker party simply felt the weight of their inferiority and gave up on the sword entirely.

“……”

Did this mean their potential was equal?

That was preposterous.

He was certain he could end this fight whenever he chose.

The difference in skill was objective.

So how was this man gaining insight against him?

This was a first in his long life.

‘Then finish it. Show me what truth you’ve found.’

So, Raiga held back.

He gave the man the space he needed to complete his epiphany.

It was a night where the moon hung heavy in the sky.

…A performance suited for such a backdrop.

How many more strikes did they trade after that?

‘He has stabilized.’

The goat’s aura no longer trembled when it met Raiga’s.

The balance and circulation of his power had reached a state of seemingly perfect harmony.

Yet, the perfection of the aura paled in comparison to the fundamental change in the man himself.

“You… who are you?”

Raiga finally spoke, breaking the long, heavy silence.

He felt compelled to ask.

The being standing before him was a complete stranger compared to the one he started fighting.

It was as if an entirely different soul had taken over the body.

The grip on the hilt, the distribution of weight in his feet, even the rhythm of his lungs.

Every single mechanical detail was different.

It was as if…

*Clang!*

With that single strike, Raiga knew for certain.

‘This isn’t Baal’s borrowed power.’

The authority of Baal?

No, this couldn’t be explained by a simple blessing or contract.

A mere authority couldn’t command this kind of awe.

‘This is the result of a martial path built stone by stone from the dirt up. It is the act of shattering every barrier in his way to reach the summit…!’

Ah.

This motion. This breathing and poise. This reverence for the blade.

Every bit of it was constructed from nothing, one step at a time.

He had forged a foundation that nothing could shake, and then built a fortress of perfection atop it, brick by flawless brick.

It was hard to believe this was the same man who, moments ago, had wielded an aura as unstable as a crumbling sandcastle.

That fortress was like Raiga’s own.

…No.

That wasn’t right.

The man wasn’t like him at all.

Raiga had, after all, stepped into a legacy of power built by the previous masters of Palga.

By contrast, this individual had birthed a true martial art from a vacuum.

Out of total nothingness, he had constructed a magnificent tower with his own bare hands.

He had traveled a lonely road without a guide.

Only then did Raiga understand.

‘Was I the one who was tainted?’

Even his own mastery wasn’t truly unadulterated.

For this man was a creator who brought life into the void.

Raiga had simply walked a bit further down a path already paved by his ancestors.

The proof came with every impact—Raiga’s skin began to hum.

It felt as though his very nerves were being flayed.

Every cell in his body was screaming in response.

The flaws had been purged, leaving only the absolute.

*Hah!*

Raiga let out a dry, incredulous laugh.

To recognize one’s own imperfections.

Wasn’t that the definition of enlightenment?

‘What is this person?’

An imagination-defying talent.

But Raiga had that too.

The difference here wasn’t about who was more gifted.

It was something more primal.

The very way he hungered for strength, that sheer aspiration, eclipsed his own.

As if he were a creature born for the sole purpose of becoming more powerful…

A soul that had cultivated only strength, discarding every other human urge.

But could such a thing even exist?

Humans were defined by their cravings—for food, for intimacy, for rest.

To cast aside every desire and only want power!

It was impossible.

That wasn’t the behavior of a human.

If such a living thing truly existed.

“…You are truly gluttonous.”

A greed that hungered only for strength!

That alone was worthy of being called the true Demon of Greed.

—

More, further, higher!

It felt as though he could touch it if he just reached out a little further.

The trail that Wilhelm had blazed and followed.

Beyond the end of that road.

If the path itself had been a mistake, he would never arrive.

But Wilhelm’s path couldn’t have been wrong.

He must have been moving toward the light.

After all, he had been Wilhelm’s deity.

Even if he had earned the man’s hate, he couldn’t let him down now.

‘If I don’t reach it now, I never will.’

At the same time, he realized something.

This clarity was a fleeting thing—a mirage that would evaporate the second he looked away.

He couldn’t let this moment slip through his fingers.

‘I didn’t know you.’

Until this moment, he had been blind.

He had understood nothing.

Wilhelm’s heart.

The truth of his soul.

To think he had craved liberation with such intensity.

And just as he had been ignorant of Wilhelm,

Wilhelm hadn’t known him either.

‘If we had understood each other, we might have been companions.’

Of course, a meeting was impossible now.

Wilhelm’s physical form had also been claimed by the Demon King.

They would never cross paths again.

But that didn’t matter.

He would complete Wilhelm’s purpose and give him the freedom he deserved.

That would be his final act of repentance.

He surged forward.

In the exact way Wilhelm had walked.

Following the straight path of the sword that Wilhelm had once swung.

‘You were right.’

He would prove that Wilhelm’s direction hadn’t been a mistake, that he had been heading toward the truth all along.

He couldn’t find the words to answer him then, but he would speak through his blade now.

He poured his very soul into the steel.

For the first time since he entered this game, he could truly manifest his will.

In that heartbeat.

《‘Sword Proficiency’ has increased.》

《Sword Proficiency has reached Lv. 32.》

《You have entered the ‘Mystic Realm Entrance.’》

《You have finished the hidden objective ‘Proficiency Level Transcendence (8)’ sparked by the ‘Master of the Mountain of Cultivators’!》

《O eternal seeker! The collective will of the mountain honors and respects your journey with profound sincerity.》

《Wishing that your destination provides the truth you seek, the Master of All Mountains perfects ‘Purity.’》

《The ‘Most Radiant Hero’s Constellation’ begins your chronicle.》

《Every constellation within the Pantheon is watching your struggle.》

……

《?????????》

《????????????????????????》

《The impossible celestial body, the 101st constellation ‘Star of Purity,’ has been created.》

《As a prize, you may claim the ??-rank ‘Wilhelm.’》

《Do you wish to accept the reward?》