Chapter 250

Chapter 250
Chapter 250: Lucifer’s Cry

—

Up to this point, he had accomplished a multitude of remarkable feats.

However, he was certain that none of those past successes could compare to the weight of the notifications now manifesting before him.

《The ‘Main Quest 11’ Hall of Fame rankings have been updated.》

《1st Place: Approximately 10,000 points. Randolph》

《2nd Place: 780 points. Lucifer》

《3rd Place: 499 points. Gracia》

《4th Place: 400 points. Varmushe》

《5th Place: 360 points. Mint Choco is Delicious》

……

The Hall of Fame was a feature every player was familiar with and strove for.

Yet, the players currently staring at the refreshed list could do nothing but blink and rub their eyes in disbelief.

The score displayed was of a magnitude, a digit count, that they had never before witnessed.

“Ten thousand points…?”

“Approximate? What does that even imply?”

“Is it possible the system itself is unable to calculate the exact total?”

“……”

It wasn’t a glitch or a programming mistake.

Relying on their collective history with the game, they knew with certainty that this was a tally Randolph had legitimately earned.

The inclusion of the word ‘Approximately’ actually served to make the feat more believable.

For it to appear in the Hall of Fame with such a qualifier meant that Randolph had performed an act so monumental—an accomplishment so far beyond the standard parameters—that it defied conventional measurement.

The real shock, however, was that these results were for ‘Main Quest 11.’

“That was the Abyss Monster Hunt, wasn’t it?”

“…Lucifer reached 780 points by taking down the ‘Prince of Vanity’ and his followers.”

“Does this suggest Randolph slaughtered at least fifteen ruler-class entities?”

“How is that physically possible? It hasn’t been that long since he finished Main Quest 10.”

“What exactly did he do? What happened out there, and how?”

Pure chaos erupted.

Surpassing Lucifer’s tally by more than tenfold was an event that defied logic.

Lucifer’s own score was the product of immense effort and countless sacrifices.

Because of that, everyone had been quietly convinced that his record would remain untouched forever!

And yet, it had been shattered.

Unless a person ascended to godhood… no, it was a feat of such scale that one wondered if it were possible even if a Goddess were to be resurrected.

“All units, muster!”

“This is a critical situation. Assemble immediately!”

“A massive shift is about to hit Pangaea. Keep your eyes peeled and observe every detail of how the landscape changes!”

“Is there seriously no one with any information?”

“What is the Intelligence Department doing? Those useless fools!”

The entire world was thrown into a frenzy.

The high-ranking players were particularly agitated.

At this moment, Earth was experiencing its own era of warring factions.

With the Hero Alliance in decline, those possessing strength were declaring themselves sovereigns and building their private armies.

These were the powerhouses who had been kept under the thumb of the Hero Alliance until now.

To them, this ‘change’ was a signal of an impending and massive upheaval.

Both in the world of Pangaea and on Earth.

‘The Hero Alliance has been playing a dangerous game, ignoring Randolph. They treated his very existence as a forbidden subject.’

‘But the era has shifted.’

‘Locate Randolph!’

‘The one who reaches Randolph first wins everything!’

The Hero Alliance had previously tried to suppress the mere mention of ‘Randolph.’

That strategy was now obsolete.

The rising kings were desperate to track down Randolph and establish some form of alliance.

They understood one thing clearly: Randolph seemed to have no desire to rule the world himself.

Therefore, simply being able to claim a connection to the name ‘Randolph’ would be the ultimate insurance policy.

They were all arriving at the same conclusion.

‘The individual who gains Randolph’s favor will be the one to rule this world.’

In the past, they had tried to dismiss his actions as errors or anomalies.

But attempting to rationalize the enigma that was ‘Randolph’ was a futile endeavor.

He was an unknown, a mystery, a fundamental truth as vast and incomprehensible as the cosmos.

He was not an entity to be pushed aside or disregarded.

He was someone to be respected, honored, and ultimately, worshipped.

To them, Randolph had become a being of that caliber.

That was why everyone was searching for him with such feverish intensity.

……For whoever was chosen by a god would become the supreme ruler, leading the world with unmatched authority.

“……”

Darkstar stood atop a skyscraper, peering down at the city streets while lost in thought.

—If such a thing is possible… very well, I shall join Phantom-ism as well.

Main Quest 11.

The promise he had made—that he would align himself with Phantom-ism if Randolph managed to beat Lucifer’s score—flashed through his mind.

“…This is just ridiculous.”

Darkstar couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Ten thousand points.

It was the first time in his life he had ever seen a five-digit score in the Hall of Fame.

“Did he actually take down an Abyss King or something similar…?”

It was a score that seemed unachievable unless he had turned the entire Abyss into a graveyard.

He struggled to grasp it, yet he couldn’t deny the reality of it.

‘Gracia turned him down, but Lucifer also had his Angel Statue snatched away.’

The only silver lining was that this loss had restored a sense of equilibrium.

Without the Angel Statue, Lucifer would no longer be able to act with the same impunity as before.

*Sllide.*

Darkstar pulled a thick bundle of papers from the folds of his cloak.

‘The information Heukyo provided when she chose my side.’

Heukyo, the Nine-Tailed Fox.

She was a member of the Hero Alliance, a cunning woman who had been playing both sides between Darkstar and Lucifer.

As soon as the Hall of Fame rankings shifted, she had sought out Darkstar and handed him this specific file.

‘The journal of the late Master.’

It was a diary left by the now-dead ‘Master.’

Crucially, it was a private record that even Lucifer was unaware of.

The document spanned over a hundred pages, but the core message was clear.

‘That man, the Master. He was searching for Randolph with even more obsession than Gracia.’

……The entire diary was focused on Randolph.

The Master had tracked Randolph with a persistence that bordered on mania.

Unlike Gracia’s obvious attempt to seize the ‘Hydragon’s Core,’ the Master’s motivations remained shrouded in mystery.

However, it was undeniable that he had gotten ‘closer’ to the truth of Randolph than Gracia ever had.

*Flip.*

As he turned the pages, carefully absorbing every word of the hundred-plus pages, Darkstar let out a heavy breath.

“……I need to travel to Korea.”

He would have to reconnect with Kim Hana.

At the same time, a thought solidified in Darkstar’s mind.

………That he might truly have no choice but to join Phantom-ism.

“No……!!!”

Lucifer screamed.

He was weeping, his hands trembling as he gripped the Angel Statue.

The reason for his despair was that the divine light once housed within the statue had flickered out the moment the Hall of Fame rankings were updated.

“How could you abandon me……!”

The Angel Statue was now cold, the light extinguished.

The presence of the ‘Angel of Blessing’ was no longer tethered to the object.

He had built his entire legacy solely for that Angel.

He had completed the Main Quest by being ready to offer up any number of sacrifices!

And yet, in a single heartbeat, everything had been stripped away.

Worse still, the gap in their scores was so vast it was impossible to close.

“Argh!”

*Crunch!*

Lucifer squeezed until the Angel Statue shattered in his hands.

With the Angel gone, the statue was nothing more than a hollow, worthless husk.

*Gurgle! Gurgle!*

Almost immediately, as the divine protections faded, Lucifer’s physical form began to warp.

Two horns sprouted from his brow, a long tail whipped out behind him, and his skin darkened to a midnight black.

Staring down at his own clawed hands, Lucifer shook his head violently.

“I am…… not…… a demon. I am……!”

He was in total denial of his own nature.

He was rejecting the reality of what he had become.

The Angel had granted him a blessing that allowed him to maintain the appearance he desired.

It was a profound grace that altered not just his looks, but his very mind and soul.

But with that grace gone, he was forced back into his true, original state.

“No, no……!”

*Gurgle!*

He forced himself back into a human shape.

But it was a mere facade.

Lucifer found he could no longer look toward the heavens.

The moment he acknowledged his demonic nature, the ancient curse—the inability of a demon to gaze at the sky—had taken hold once more.

‘I was supposed to be free in this world!’

How long had he savored that taste of freedom?

He wasn’t prepared to surrender it so easily.

He still held onto the dream of standing at the apex of existence, ruling as an absolute monarch.

Even though he had fallen from grace, Earth felt like a paradise to him.

As long as he possessed the Angel’s favor.

“Even after knowing how much I adored you……!”

Beyond the power, Lucifer had truly been in love with that Angel.

But she was gone.

She had been stolen by Randolph.

*Grit-grit!*

Lucifer ground his teeth so hard they threatened to splinter.

‘It’s not over yet.’

The blessings he had gathered over the years wouldn’t vanish instantly.

However, the moment the residual energy in his body finally dried up, Lucifer would be forced back into his ultimate form.

A demon fueled by nothing but fury.

A monster intent on total destruction.

A creature in its most hideous state, devoid of any capacity for mercy or love!

“Ran, dol, ph……!!!”

The Demon of Rage let out a primal howl.

I was stunned into silence by the sheer scale of the rewards.

Simply receiving ‘10 Perfect Golden Rules’ through the Hidden Piece would have been an unbelievable windfall, but I had also secured the ‘Infinite Talisman Cube (Hidden).’

Furthermore, I now held ownership of the ‘Island of God’ and the ‘Holy Star,’ and I was granted the chance to choose a unique ‘Talisman.’

Was that it?

‘The Angel of Blessing, ten thousand achievement points, and 10,000 hours of Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule. This is absolutely mental.’

The phrase ‘greatest of all time’ escaped my lips involuntarily.

The rewards weren’t just being given to me; they were an avalanche.

Moreover, every single item was of a caliber that would put any Unique-grade gear to shame.

‘Talismans bearing the names of the participants. I’ve never heard of such a thing.’

These were talismans that were guaranteed to offer incredible bonuses, regardless of which one I picked.

On top of that, I already had the ‘Primordial Armor’ in my possession.

‘……The Primordial Armor boosts a Talisman’s effectiveness by 1.5 times.’

And now I had the ‘Infinite Talisman Cube’ as well.

It was likely a unique cube designed for secret fusions.

This meant that if I played my cards right, I could create a build with staggering synergy.

Consequently, I was torn.

Which should I pick?

What sort of Talisman would be the perfect fit for me?

Since I was limited to a single choice, I had to be extremely methodical.

‘A name serves as a mark of identity. If a name has been forged into a Talisman, it means the gear will be heavily shaped by the essence of that name.’

A Talisman acts as a catalyst to upgrade equipment.

It’s a treasure that imprints special attributes that the original gear lacked, allowing it to reach its full potential.

They often provide bonuses that are otherwise impossible to find.

They can lower the requirements to wear a piece of gear, allow the tracking of similar talismans, boost specific stats or resistances, or even completely overhaul all the options on an item……

If utilized correctly, a ‘Talisman’ could multiply the effectiveness of a piece of equipment several times over.

And a Talisman with a specific name attached would focus those effects on that person’s specific traits.

‘The traits of the participants. A name that complements the Primordial Armor.’

It was almost certainly a Talisman reflecting the nature of a participant.

And the vessel for this Talisman was the Primordial Armor.

Therefore, it needed to be a choice that could push the Primordial Armor to its absolute limit.

This armor was already a beast: it had 6 Talisman slots, amplified equipped talismans by 1.5 times, allowed for shape-shifting, provided at least 50% physical resistance and 210% damage reflection, and granted penetration based on level—not to mention access to skills like Primordial Despair.

It was already over-the-top, but which Talisman could elevate it even further?

‘There is definitely one that fits.’

I dug through my memories.

The specific traits of the participants and their unique powers.

The information that only I possessed.

My hesitation didn’t last long.

《You have chosen the ‘Whale of the Heavenly Axis’ Talisman.》

The Whale of the Heavenly Axis, who held the power of transformation.

Her Talisman would undoubtedly offer options that mirrored that capability.

It was then.

New notifications flashed before my eyes.

《Please designate a vessel for the ‘Angel of Blessing’ to inhabit. The ‘Angel of Blessing’ will provide a more potent blessing depending on the chosen object.》

《The ‘Angel of Blessing’ cannot manifest in the physical world for an extended period.》

《A decision must be made within 564 seconds.》

《If the timer expires, the ‘Angel of Blessing’ will vanish permanently.》

The system was pressing me for an answer, almost frantically.

It seemed the process wouldn’t be complete until I had selected a container for the Angel.

I scowled.

To pop up out of nowhere and demand a life-altering choice in under ten minutes—what kind of ridiculous pressure was this?

《A decision must be made within 499 seconds.》

《A decision must be made within 387 seconds.》

《A decision must be made within 284 seconds.》

The clock was ticking down without mercy.

I started to feel the heat of the situation.

《‘Randolph’ is not a valid vessel.》

I had tried selecting myself just to see if it would work, but the system rejected it immediately.

…What should I use as the container?

The most powerful thing I had.

Should I bind her to the Primordial Armor or perhaps Winter (Final Twilight)?

Was there anything else in my inventory that was worthy of holding such a being?

《A decision must be made within 10 seconds.》

While I was weighing my options, the timer plummeted into the single digits.

《A decision must be made within 6 seconds.》

《A decision must be made within 4 seconds.》

《A decision must be made within 2 seconds.》

《1 second……》

《You have designated the ‘Island of God’ as the vessel for the ‘Angel of Blessing.’》

《The ‘Angel of Blessing’ now resides within the ‘Island of God’!》