Chapter 230

Chapter 230
## Chapter: 230
Chapter Title: Filthy and Ugly Evil God

“……”

Isabella took in her new environment with a slow, sweeping gaze.

The moment she stepped through the threshold, the world had utterly transformed.

A solitary island sat isolated amidst a boundless, surging sea.

She saw a pale shoreline, a dense, unending thicket of trees, and a towering peak that dominated the distant horizon.

And just past that……

“Well, look at this. You actually showed up?”

“The little trainee we assumed had bolted is right here?”

……the Palga knights.

It was clear now that she wasn’t the only uninvited guest to pass through the gate alongside the designated contenders.

These men were monsters of combat who served Raiga, their commander, with a fanatical devotion.

They were true aberrations whose psyches had fractured from their repeated descents into the dark heart of the abyss.

“By the way, what was the deal with that shadow entity?”

“It’s a creature of the abyss. A sort of middleman capable of manipulating the passages.”

“Sort of like a golden goblin?”

“Damn, if I’d realized it was a golden goblin, I’d have cut it down first and looked for loot later.”

The shadow had appeared to them as well.

And the conversation that followed struck a chord of grim familiarity.

“That shadow claimed, ‘You are required if you wish for your king to triumph.’”

“We have no king but Commander Raiga.”

“That goes without saying.”

“We won’t stand for anyone else claiming that throne.”

……They had traversed the portal specifically to ensure Raiga’s ascension.

These warriors recognized no authority but the knight commander’s.

Even if the Emperor himself stood before them, a single command from Raiga would carry more weight.

The elite knights meant to serve the empire had long since been tainted.

The Palga Knights had effectively become Raiga’s private militia.

“In 그 case, we just have to eliminate the competition.”

“Let’s see. That ‘goat’ is likely among them, isn’t he?”

“That arrogant goat. How dare he think he can stand on the same level as our commander.”

“Agreed. He’s the first one we should put down.”

Isabella held her breath, remaining perfectly still.

There was only one individual they would refer to as a goat.

Randolph.

Ever since that high-ranking member of the Reaper Church had entered the fray, the Palga knights had treated him with thinly veiled animosity.

Raiga had never bothered to clarify the reasons behind Randolph’s involvement in the hunt for the fragment.

This provided them with the perfect pretext.

To the Palga Knights, the chance to wipe out a rival and an executive of the Reaper Church in one go must have seemed like a stroke of divine luck.

“Hold on, little apprentice. Weren’t you taking the side of the goat?”

“……That’s right. You claimed Wilhelm was a superior warrior to Commander Raiga, didn’t you?”

“Tch, there’s no betrayal quite like yours.”

The knights shifted their focus toward Isabella.

A thick, suffocating wave of murderous intent radiated from them.

This was the abyss—a realm where a sudden death was the only thing one could truly count on.

‘……This is bad.’

If they lunged, she was finished.

To these fanatics who viewed Raiga with divine reverence, Isabella’s past assessment was the ultimate blasphemy.

—Then tell me. Who holds the advantage, Wilhelm or myself?

When Raiga had posed that question, Isabella hadn’t wavered for a second.

—Wilhelm.

That moment was burned into her memory.

The air had turned freezing in a heartbeat.

The killing intent from the surrounding knights had been every bit as bone-chilling as Raiga’s own expression.

……Yet, even if she were granted a thousand chances to relive that moment, her answer would remain unchanged.

She felt no remorse.

She had simply provided a factual response to a direct question.

But logic had no place here.

To them, her honesty was proof that she was protecting the ‘goat.’

“And now that I think about it, when we breached the abyss, only you and that goat vanished.”

“Have you two been working together from the very start?”

“Typical behavior for a Reaper Church puppet.”

They continued to spit out whatever accusations suited them.

Trying to reason with them was a lost cause.

No matter how much she argued that their theories were nonsense, they wouldn’t hear a word of it.

*Shring. Shring.*

The sound of steel leaving scabbards filled the air as they began to circle her.

Isabella gripped her own hilt and drew her blade.

‘I need a way out.’

A direct confrontation was suicide; her odds were nonexistent.

These were professional killers who made a living hunting the literal lords of the abyss.

There was no obvious path for retreat.

Her only hope, however slim, was to find a momentary opening.

‘I have to break through before they tighten the circle.’

The knights had already positioned themselves to block her escape.

If they closed the distance, it was over.

Isabella felt her throat go dry as she braced herself.

Just as she prepared to lung forward—

*Swish. Swish. Swiiiish.*

……A bizarre, rhythmic sound erupted from behind the group.

It sounded like something heavy and wet dragging across the earth, crawling toward them.

‘……What is that?’

A sudden, primal dread washed over her.

It was a coldness unlike anything she had ever encountered.

Her muscles seized up; she found herself unable to move even a finger.

“Huh?”

“What the…… Aaaagh!”

“Look out…… Gahk!”

……What?

What was happening?

Agonized shrieks began to tear through the air from behind.

When she looked at the knights in front of her, their faces were masks of pure, unadulterated terror.

“Aaah……”

“Don’t look back……!”

“T-The ‘Unborn Existence’……!!!”

They recognized the thing that was tearing through their ranks.

These were knights who had faced the most terrifying rulers of the abyss.

If even they were reduced to this state of helplessness, it had to be a being of unfathomable power.

“……”

Isabella clamped a trembling hand over her mouth, desperate to stifle even the sound of her breathing.

She squeezed her eyes shut and forced her mind to go dark, severing her connection to her senses.

She blocked out the sound.

She blocked out the sight.

She blocked out the feeling of the world around her.

She had no idea how much time slipped by in that void.

“……”

Eventually, Isabella lifted her head and blinked her eyes open.

……The sky had transitioned into a deep twilight.

The firmament was filled with countless stars and a bright moon.

She realized then.

Those “stars” were actually “floating continents” drifting in the high heavens.

She hadn’t realized that from the perspective of the abyss, the world above looked like a field of stars.

But she couldn’t focus on the scenery.

*Thump! Thump! Thump!*

Her heart was hammering against her ribs.

Isabella sucked in a ragged breath and, with agonizing slowness, lowered her gaze to the ground.

And then.

‘……All of them.’

The words died in her throat.

She simply couldn’t speak.

The carnage before her was beyond the limits of her imagination.

‘……They’re all dead.’

Every single one of them—not a survivor in sight.

The Palga Knights.

Who were these men?

They were the pinnacle of the empire’s military might.

While they might not have equaled Raiga, they were considered the “strongest” wherever they walked.

Yet the scene looked like a fever dream.

‘They didn’t even have a chance to fight.’

It wasn’t a battle; it was a slaughter.

There were no signs of a struggle or even an attempt to flee.

Fragments of gore were strewn across the area.

The remains were unrecognizable, looking as though they had been pulverized and shredded by some monstrous force.

It was clear they had been annihilated in a heartbeat.

A predator existed here that even the continent’s most elite warriors couldn’t hope to oppose.

Isabella was the lone person left alive.

‘The horror that you must never look upon.’

By keeping her back turned and her eyes closed, she had somehow been spared.

Isabella tried to steady her breathing.

How many more of these nightmares were prowling this island?

……In that moment.

【Congratulations! Based on your survival performance, you have been designated as a ‘Night Wraith.’】

A glowing notification appeared in her vision.

Night Wraith?

As if sensing her confusion, more text began to scroll.

【A total of four ‘Night Wraiths’ exist in this realm.】

【‘Night Wraiths’ receive a bonus of 500 attack and 500 health during the nocturnal hours.】

【During the night, ‘Night Wraiths’ are tasked with hunting escaped ‘prisoners’ and delivering them to the ‘Star Prison.’】

【‘Night Wraiths’ may access specific memories of the ‘prisoners’ they capture and, upon the arrival of dawn, can assume the identity of any ‘prisoner.’】

【In this state, they possess the starlight of the impersonated ‘prisoner.’】

【A ‘Night Wraith’ is disqualified if they are defeated in an ‘expedition duel’ during daylight or if their true identity is unmasked.】

【While ‘Night Wraiths’ are unknown to each other, defeating an opponent in an ‘expedition duel’ during the day allows for the absorption of a portion of their stats.】

【‘Night Wraiths’ will not be eliminated even if they discover one another’s true identities.】

【Should only the ‘Last Prisoner’ and the ‘Last Night Wraith’ remain, the ‘Night Wraith’ may seize everything from the ‘prisoner’ to claim victory.】

【However, if two ‘prisoners’ are still active when morning arrives, all ‘Night Wraiths’ are eliminated.】

【Observe memories, perform your role, deceive the others, and emerge victorious.】

Isabella’s face turned pale as she processed the implications of the messages.

“……Sir Randolph.”

……According to these rules, there was no outcome where both she and Randolph could find a happy ending.

A revolting and hideous deity of malice.

Winter’s assessment had been perfectly accurate.

the “thing” that resided within the Heavenly Demon Island was truly stomach-turning.

—Consume the humans.

—The blood, the meat, the hearts, and the guts!

—The parents, the offspring, the companions!

—Gorge yourself on them.

—Eat them all and ascend as an asura.

—Scion of the Heaven Killing Star! This is your destiny!

The memories contained within Heavenly Demon Island began with the image of a lone child.

The star destined to slaughter the heavens.

A child born under that dark omen.

The architect of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the vile god dwelling on this island!

The mother who brought him into the world died in the process, and the child proceeded to eat his father alive.

Born with a soul of pure slaughter, the boy grew slightly before murdering everyone in his village and consuming their flesh and organs.

Unsatisfied, he moved on to topple entire civilizations.

……He was the embodiment of evil.

A creature brought into existence for the sole purpose of malice.

This concentrated darkness eventually entered the Heavenly Mountains, where he was worshiped and given the title of the Heavenly Demon.

—Do you crave my authority?

—Do you wish to inherit my potency?

—Then cast it aside.

—Only those who renounce their very humanity can hope to master the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Multitudes of followers in the Heavenly Mountains bowed before his strength.

But because his power was so overwhelming, so absolute, and so inherently wicked, no one was ever able to truly inherit it.

No human could bring themselves to fully discard their humanity.

No human was capable of such unadulterated evil.

—Are you able to throw away your humanity?

—Can you consume all that exists?

And so, the original Heavenly Demon and evil god posed these questions to me.

He wanted to know if I could become a void of pure evil that would swallow the world, just as he had.

The Heavenly Demon currently locked within the ‘Star Prison’ had evolved into an entity of the abyss and abandoned his human self.

At the very least, without that level of grim determination, the inheritance of his power was an impossibility.

Truly.

As I listened to his voice, I simply nodded.

“……What a wretched creature you are.”

A filthy and repulsive god of evil.

This being was truly worthy of nothing but pity.

—Wretched? Me?

The evil god let out a sharp, incredulous laugh.

A titan who had consumed all things.

The absolute ruler who was said to have no rival under the sky!

Who could possibly look at such a being and feel pity?

One might feel terror or intense loathing, but never pity.

“Yes, you are utterly pathetic.”

I didn’t hesitate to double down.

He had never known a shred of genuine affection since the day he was born; this twisted existence was the only way he knew how to define himself.

His mother was gone the moment he took his first breath.

His father, broken by that loss, treated him like a wild animal.

He was kept in a pen, starved of any human warmth.

In the end, the child who was raised as a beast struck down his father without a second thought and butchered his neighbors.

Though he was later idolized, the child never possessed a grain of human empathy.

‘The innate kindness that all humans share. He lacked it entirely. Because he was missing the fundamental traits of a human being, he was branded as something else.’

That was why they called him a god.

It was born out of pure, unrefined fear.

Born as a beast.

Died as a god.

From his first moment to his last, this evil god was never once regarded as a human being.

How could that be anything other than tragic?

—……Not terror, but you feel pity for me?

Even the malevolent god, experiencing such a sentiment for the first time in his existence, muttered the words in shock.

But my words were honest.

His displays of power and threats didn’t scare me in the slightest.

—Very well. We shall see if you maintain that perspective until the end.

The darkness around me swelled, becoming even more massive.

It shifted its shape, conjuring nightmarish visions in an attempt to shatter my resolve.

It unleashed waves of despair that would drive any human mind to madness!

He funneled every ounce of “evil” he had ever encountered directly into my consciousness.

—Discard your humanity. Hunger only for strength.

Even against a divine being, his malice was a force that couldn’t be ignored.

From the second he had cornered me on the Heavenly Demon Island, the conclusion seemed foregone.

Holding onto one’s humanity would only lead to the rot of the mind and total collapse.

The only way he saw to survive was to let go of being human and embrace the darkness.

Furthermore, by the evil god’s own standards, my potential was remarkably high.

Therefore, I should just accept it.

Accept him.

Accept the evil.

……And yet.

—……Why aren’t you breaking?

The human before him remained untainted by his corruption.

I still looked upon him with those same eyes of sorrowful compassion.

He couldn’t fathom it.

It should have been impossible.

This was his territory.

A realm where every shadow and every form belonged to him.

The ink-black tide that stained everything was the evil god himself.

Yet, I remained unchanged.

There was only one shade that a black so deep could never hope to color.

……….A darkness that ran even deeper than his own.