Chapter 242

Chapter 242
## Chapter 242

—

The Immortal Cleric

“Is it then the force of Ruin that animates the ‘Divine Skin Hybrid’?”

The topic of Ruin surfaced.

If the Immortal Cleric had been overthrown, his physical form usurped, and his spirit locked away in a dungeon, Randolph felt compelled to inquire about the true identity of the ‘Divine Skin Hybrid’—the entity currently ruling this domain.

In response, the spectral eyes shifted rapidly, darting from left to right in a restless rhythm.

-It is Ruin, yet it is not. It operates through the consciousness of a Shard of Ruin.

It was a condition where a mere fragment possessed its own ego, utilizing a living vessel as its primary host.

Randolph had witnessed such a phenomenon once before.

Indeed, had not Baal of the Four Calamities been subverted by a shard within the heart of the Void?

The reality that Baal, whose outer shell had only just reached wakefulness, descended into the Void to seek transformation was entirely the result of that shard’s ambition.

“If a fragment has seized control of him, then why did the ‘Divine Skin Hybrid’ bother to establish these elaborate regulations?”

However, that logic seemed flawed.

The act of summoning rivals to the Isle of Divinity and defining specific constraints as if the ordeal were a mere diversion.

-That is the result of my residual power. It is because I have been calling out to you without ceasing.

The Immortal Cleric answered with casual detachment.

He clarified that while the command of his physical shell had been snatched away, his essence still cast a shadow over it.

For instance, involuntary behaviors or deeply ingrained tendencies.

It suggested that the ‘Divine Skin Hybrid’ had organized this contest as a byproduct of those lingering traits.

Furthermore, it implied that Randolph’s presence in this place was orchestrated entirely by the Cleric’s own design.

…Finally, the fog of uncertainty began to lift.

It felt as though the scattered components of a grand design were finally snapping into their proper places.

“Then the fact that I was aware of the ‘Divine Skin Hybrid’ must also be due to your reach.”

-The ‘Immortal Monarch’ and the ‘Immortal Cleric’ share a bond that cannot be severed. Your recognition of me was an innate reaction.

The claim that it was a matter of pure intuition.

Randolph gave a solemn nod.

The skepticism he had carried was dissolved in a single moment of clarity.

Now, it was time to address the fresh questions bubbling to the surface.

“If I claim the title of the master of the ‘Isle of Divinity,’ can you retrieve your stolen vessel?”

-A frame once claimed by a shard is beyond recovery.

……Recovery was impossible?

But within the objectives of the Lineage Restoration mission, it was explicitly stated that the ‘Immortal Cleric’ would be roused if one secured the ‘Isle of Divinity.’

Was the goal not for the Cleric to repossess his form and rebuild their people?

Most importantly, Randolph himself had once lost his body only to reclaim it later.

That occurred when he was consumed by the shard Baal carried and met his end.

During that event, he had undeniably regained his physical self and returned to life through the obscured power of ‘Randolph of Immortality.’

‘It implies such a feat is impossible without a similar phenomenon.’

That had been a result of numerous miraculous threads weaving together perfectly.

One could not rely on such a rare alignment of fate occurring twice.

He needed to be ready and vigilant so that such a catastrophe would never repeat itself.

-Immortal Monarch! The ancient ambition of our kin begins with my demise. Therefore, the myriad ‘origins’ contained within me must be broadcast across this island.

The Immortal Cleric spoke with grave intensity.

The path was not to wake him, but to end him.

It was a strategy Randolph had never even considered.

Regardless, it meant the Cleric held the vital components required for the revival of their bloodline.

Only through his death would the long-held dream of restoring the race be unchained.

“Is the reason you summoned me here to scatter these origins?”

-That is half the purpose. The ‘origins’ held within my physical shell must never fall into the grasp of those others.

“By ‘those others,’ who are you referring to?”

-The Sovereigns of the Void. Should one of them triumph in this ordeal and reach fruition, they will advance toward becoming the ‘Void Sovereign.’ Presently, the Void is in a state of anarchy, with countless Lords and shard-bearers styling themselves as royalty. If the ‘origins’ were to be seized by them… the mere thought is chilling.

The Void must never fall under a single ruler.

The moment it found a conqueror, its gaze would fixate entirely upon Pangaea.

It would signal the emergence of Ruin under a different mask.

To avert that doom, the Immortal Cleric had drawn Randolph to this spot.

To the arena where the battle for dominance commences on the Isle of Divinity, the site where the true sovereign is decided.

However, he mentioned that this was only a portion of the reason.

Randolph knit his brows slightly.

“What is the remaining half of the reason?”

-It is for your own fulfillment. Immortal Monarch.

“……?”

-The moment has arrived to decide.

A decision.

What sort of resolution was he talking about?

Succeeding in the contest was a foregone conclusion. There was no alternative to weigh.

If even his arrival was part of the Cleric’s plan, then what exactly remained for him to choose?

The Immortal Cleric.

That colossal ‘eye’ focused its gaze on Randolph and declared:

-Cast it aside. And reach your final state. For this location exists solely for that act.

“…What are you asking me to surrender?”

To cast aside.

It meant to purge himself of what he held and what he was.

But he was entirely in the dark.

When he pressed for an answer, the Immortal Cleric spoke with a tone that bordered on ridicule.

-Do you truly not recognize it? Your most prized possession. Yet something that has become a burden. The lingering grief and essence carried by everyone who set foot on this island!

……His most prized possession.

But he remained ignorant of what that could be.

He wasn’t feigning confusion; he genuinely lacked the answer.

Noticing his bewilderment, the Immortal Cleric made a sound of disapproval.

-What was bound to the Sky Demon Atlas, the token, and the journal was not mere recollection. It was the essence itself. What you have been observing all this time are those very spirits.

The claim that the most valuable thing was, in fact, the spirit.

It was a valid point.

For the Malignant Deity residing within the Sky Demon Atlas was undeniably the spirit of the Primal Sky Demon.

However, the reason he could identify the Malignant Deity unlike the other relics was because that being’s persona was so overwhelming.

It meant that spirits, not just memories, were embedded within the token the Vault Keeper prized and Raiga’s record of fatherhood.

But Randolph felt he had surrendered nothing.

He had no clue what spirit linked to him could possibly be.

-Spirits that can only find peace once they are relinquished. Usually, they inhabit related relics, but your ‘most vital spirit’ was residing within your own being.

A spirit dwelling within an object.

He felt he had encountered such a concept before.

However, if it were living within him……

-Reflect on it. How long has it been since you last ‘exited’? Can you even recall the last time you went back? Have you not been in a state of being ‘entered’ into Pangaea exclusively for a long duration now?

“……!!!”

Randolph’s eyes flared with sudden realization.

Those terms were certainly evocative to his ears.

Exit and Entry.

Just as the Immortal Cleric pointed out, at some point, he had ceased to exit.

He couldn’t even pinpoint the last time he had done so.

He felt as if the era of the second incursion was the final instance.

After that, he had become totally absorbed in Pangaea and had never questioned the situation.

However……

‘What is this sensation?’

That wasn’t the only anomaly.

A detail that was utterly baffling.

‘Why did I even attempt to exit?’

There was a portion of his history that had been blanked out, as if surgically removed.

A name he tried to grasp, but it simply slipped through his mental fingers.

‘Who am I?’

The person directing this body was, obviously, him.

The entity known as ‘Me.’

But who was ‘I’?

What was his nature, where did he originate, and how did he come to be?

The Immortal Cleric went on speaking as if Randolph’s internal turmoil was the expected outcome.

-You have misplaced that name. You have let it fade. However, there is no requirement to reclaim it. You are Immortal Monarch Randolph. One who originated and was finalized solely as Randolph.

-Even when you reconstructed your history yourself while trapped in the dungeon, you would not have been able to summon that name alone. Because it is a title that no longer serves a purpose.

-Let it go. For all time.

-For you have already reached completion.

-You no longer need to be a puppet.

-From this moment forward, you shall exist purely as yourself. Immortal Monarch Randolph!

Gooooo.

The Vault Keeper stared at the Grim Harbinger.

That translucent, shimmering thing.

Since the Grim Harbinger had obtained his most prized possession, the Automaton also had something it was owed.

“Do you desire the truth that much? The location of the youngster?”

Gooooooooo—!

The Vault Keeper responded with visceral intensity.

It yearned for that knowledge to the point of obsession. It had traversed the Void for untold centuries for that singular objective.

But it had failed to uncover even a solitary hint.

Then, the Grim Harbinger spoke.

“Did someone perhaps suggest you could locate the child by journeying to the Isle of Divinity?”

Gooo. Gooooo.

The Vault Keeper gave a heavy nod.

The reason it had come to this Isle of Divinity was for that very reason.

“Who was it?”

Gooooo.

“……The Architect?”

Gooooooooo.

The Vault Keeper confirmed.

‘The Architect.’

Someone claiming to be the ‘Architect’ had guided the Vault Keeper here……

But what exactly were they overseeing?

This Void?

Or perhaps Pangaea itself?

Or, was it possible they were a deity who managed the entire world?

What was certain was that every soul had gathered at the Isle of Divinity with a specific aim.

It was the same for the other contenders, not just the Vault Keeper.

They all possessed something they desperately wanted to find here.

The Isle of Divinity and the Sacred Celestial?

Those were secondary concerns.

The things they truly craved. They had congregated to discover the things they could never relinquish.

Just like the Vault Keeper.

Gooooooooo.

Finally, the Vault Keeper focused on the Grim Harbinger.

It was time for the agreement to be honored.

Since it had shielded and delivered the most prized possession as agreed, it was demanding that he disclose the youngster’s location.

After pausing to collect his thoughts, the Grim Harbinger slowly shook his head.

“I am truly sorry, but I cannot reveal it to you.”

…Gooo?

What was he saying at this moment?

That he refused to tell?

“Knowing the truth will only bring you agony.”

Gooooooooo!

In a flash, the air turned murderous.

The Vault Keeper was consumed by pure fury.

At the Grim Harbinger who was breaking his word.

Agony was something meant to be faced by oneself in the first place.

It had drifted through the Void for eras and finally grasped a lead on the location.

And now he claimed he would not speak?

Was he saying the deal was over simply because he had recovered his own property?

Gooooooooooo—!!

It would destroy him.

It would end him.

Just like the horrors of the Void that had tried to bar its way.

Just like the lords of the various domains.

It would pulverize him until not even a speck of dust remained.

Saaaaaaa—!

It was in that moment.

Infinite beams of starlight erupted behind the Grim Harbinger.

【‘Vault Keeper’ and ‘Grim Harbinger’ enter into a ‘Celestial Voyage Duel.’】

【The Vault Keeper’s Offense is 85, and Vitality is 60.】

【The Vault Keeper takes the opening move.】

However, being the one to start the duel did not always mean securing the ‘opening move.’

It had intended to obliterate him, but this arrangement wasn’t poor either.

It would first seize the person’s treasure once more, and it would not be too late to finish him when nightfall arrived.

The Vault Keeper confidently wove its starlight into a pattern.

This was because it calculated that it could overcome the Grim Harbinger if it held the advantage of the first strike.

At that precise second.

【The Grim Harbinger’s Offense is 126, and Vitality is 120.】

【The Vault Keeper has been defeated!】

【‘Grim Harbinger (Apparition of the Night)’ seizes the Vault Keeper’s most prized possession.】

【The ‘most prized possession’ seized by an ‘Apparition of the Night’ can only be retrieved by destroying the Apparition of the Night.】

Gooooo—?

Witnessing that notification, the Vault Keeper stared at the Grim Harbinger as if it had lost its mind.

It was far more jarring than the loss itself.

The Grim Harbinger was an Apparition of the Night?

Was an Apparition of the Night currently masquerading as the Grim Harbinger?

Gooooooooo!

It had been played.

The Vault Keeper could not restrain its boiling rage.

Because it had ended up surrendering both its own treasure and the Grim Harbinger’s treasure.

The Vault Keeper lunged with its hand.

However, before it could make contact.

【The loser of a duel is banished to the ‘Celestial Dungeon’ for one cycle.】

Shooom!

The Vault Keeper was blinked away to the dungeon.

Following that, the Grim Harbinger, standing in silence, looked once more at the object in his palm.

The clear yet incredibly volatile spherical essence.

“Park Hyunmyeong.”

Randolph’s most prized possession.

His most vital spirit.

The Grim Harbinger gazed toward the heavens and spoke.

“……I now understand with total clarity what my task is. My Sovereign, my Celestial.”