Chapter 341

Chapter 341
It was the Druid of the Golden Rule who had brought the Eleven Holy Heavens into existence.

‘…What manner of absolute conceptual authority do you wield?’

Was it a mastery over time, reflecting the nature of the Eleven Holy Heavens?

Or did it stem from an entirely unrelated principle?

Regardless of its origin, if he held a power capable of endangering Truth itself, the Forgotten God finally had to admit the reality of the situation.

That this individual was…

-Become my spouse, my beloved.

…The one for whom she had remained in waiting throughout endless epochs.

A spirit more desirable than any other soul in existence within this realm.

Perhaps more precious than anything else found in this world.

To such a degree that the two loathsome goddesses no longer even registered in her perception.

I wish to claim him.

I wish to possess him.

The gaze of the Forgotten God began to radiate with a transparent brilliance.

—

For a split second, I suspected my ears had deceived me.

‘Husband?’

…It was a proposal that came entirely out of left field.

A plea to become her spouse, or perhaps her partner.

The expression that had previously been staring at me with predatory intent had shifted completely.

It was now beaming so intensely that it felt overwhelming.

-Those manipulative and disgusting goddesses only seek to exploit you. But my intentions are different. I shall surrender my entire being to elevate you to the status of the supremely pure.

Even her way of addressing me had transitioned from ‘child’ to ‘my beloved’.

I was simply stunned by this abrupt transformation.

It appeared that the manifestation of the Eleven Holy Heavens, existing beyond the boundaries of Truth, had fundamentally altered the Forgotten God’s perspective.

The ranks of the supremely pure.

Was she suggesting she would elevate me to the status of a high-tier deity?

Without pausing to deliberate, I gave my answer at once.

“I decline.”

We were currently locked in a duel where every stake had been wagered.

This was a theatre of conflict, not a quest to locate a life partner.

Furthermore, as I had gathered from my encounter with the first ‘Forgotten God’, these entities were all fundamentally warped.

It was shocking that she hadn’t proposed I become an apostle, but if I took a single wrong step, I could end up being pulled along by a leash.

-…Is your hesitation due to those goddesses? Reflect carefully. Those manipulative hags will surely fail you and eventually cast you into an abyss.

This went far beyond a mere inferiority complex.

However, the ‘two goddesses’ that I recognized, and the ones Wilhelm knew, were not capable of betrayal.

Quite the opposite; they were the type to offer themselves up as a sacrifice if the situation demanded it.

Initially, I had felt a spark of interest regarding why she harbored such malice toward the goddesses…

‘A deity of evil.’

Now that the true nature of this Forgotten God was undeniable, my curiosity vanished.

Though she was currently erased from memory, before that erasure, she must have been a dark divinity.

Only malevolent gods would curse their rivals and use them as offerings to bolster the strength of the shadows.

Moreover, the dark gods of my acquaintance were the most twisted of all beings.

I was well aware that if I succumbed to a passing urge and engaged with that power, I would only descend further into the dark.

“I decline.”

And so, I stood my ground.

I allowed no space for bargaining.

Having established such a firm boundary, my resolve should have been unmistakable.

-Allow me to inquire one final time…

“I decline.”

-Three times…!

It happened in that very instant.

Swooooooosh.

A dense, obsidian vapor began to emanate from the ‘Forgotten God’.

Following this, her eyes shifted to a total, ink-black void, and a pair of massive dark wings burst from her shoulders.

Hovering above her head, a ‘black and crimson sun’ ascended.

A dark orb speckled with marks the color of fresh blood.

She had embraced her inner darkness.

…Yet, the appearance of that celestial body was hauntingly familiar.

‘Angra Mainyu?’

The crest of ‘Angra Mainyu’, one of the four legendary dark deities, was that exact black and red sun.

Could she be an entity linked in some way to Angra Mainyu?

Before long, the fully transitioned Forgotten God directed her voice toward me.

-…I shall ensure you lament the day you turned me away.

Her voice carried a freezing resonance.

It was incomparably bleak and shadowed.

There was no point of comparison.

That had to be the authentic manifestation of the ‘Forgotten God’.

Guuuuuuuuh-!

Goooooooooo-.

Furthermore, the transformation wasn’t limited to the Forgotten God herself.

Soon after, the creatures under the command of the ‘Forgotten God’ started to fuse into a single entity.

The 13 ‘Souls’ had finally merged, reaching a state of completion.

The Supreme Soul.

Arriving in its most formidable incarnation.

“W-what is that shape?”

“That isn’t… a beast, is it?”

The spectators were gripped by terror.

I shared their sentiment.

The finalized form was entirely startling.

In fact, it was recognizable.

A shape that every person would know and identify.

That silhouette was unmistakably…

【Supreme Soul, the First Human】

…Because it took the form of a human being.

—

《‘White King (Mok, the King of Ruin)’ is victorious!》

Hudson let out a weary breath.

Truly, the conclusion had been a foregone conclusion from the start.

He had been crushed by a massive gap in power before he could even mount a defense.

However, the sting of defeat wasn’t as sharp as he had anticipated.

‘Because I caught a glimpse of what is possible.’

He had given his absolute maximum effort.

Consequently, he had achieved a milestone and witnessed potential.

Just as the Monster Soul had transformed into an ‘Angeling’, Hudson himself had undergone an evolution.

“You possess a gift for this.”

In that moment, the White King, positioned across from him, suddenly spoke.

Hudson briefly wondered who the target of the comment was, but quickly realized it was directed at him and blinked in surprise.

Then, the White King spoke once more.

“You have a natural talent, human.”

“What kind of talent could I possibly have…?”

“Your spirit is better suited for nurturing another rather than focusing on your own growth. The ‘Angeling’ is a ‘token of evolution’ that only a vanishingly small number of our White Tiger Clan have ever managed to achieve.”

“…”

Hudson turned his attention back to the ‘Monster Soul’ in his possession.

For a heartbeat, he struggled to grasp the meaning.

But the Angeling was far more than a basic creature.

On the surface, it appeared to be nothing more than a winged slime, yet it was a creature of deep symbolic weight since the dawn of time.

A mark of evolution recognized even by the legendary White Tiger Clan!

“In the right hands, it can grow into a ‘monstrous entity’ of incredible power. See that you raise it well.”

“…Even greater than Mok, the King of Ruin?”

“What?”

The White King was briefly caught off guard by Hudson’s question.

But Hudson’s gaze remained dead serious.

The sheer power of Mok, the King of Ruin, which he had just witnessed, was enough to shatter the very earth.

It was more spectacular than any other Monster Soul currently in the arena.

In some respects, it was even more breathtaking than the Forgotten God or the entities Park Hyunmyeong had brought forth.

If it were possible to surpass that…

“Haha! The possibility exists. Even we don’t fully understand the Angeling. There must be heights that even the White Tiger Clan has never scaled.”

The White King gave a shrug and let out a boisterous laugh.

While the Angeling was a hallmark of evolution, almost no one within the White Tiger Clan had the skill to manifest it.

One thing was certain: the Angeling possessed limitless potential.

Having earned the White King’s respect, Hudson’s eyes shimmered with renewed focus.

Regardless, the White King turned his gaze toward the Druid of the Golden Rule and the Forgotten God in the distance.

The entity that had just been formed by the merging of all those creatures sent a shiver through him the moment it appeared.

‘The First Human…’

He couldn’t even begin to calculate its strength.

It simply felt wrong.

He had never encountered a human presence so heavy with ill omens.

What he did know was that his blood was pumping for a clash.

He wished he could step into the ring against it himself.

Was that all?

This entire tournament was proving to be far more exhilarating than he had envisioned.

Initially, he hadn’t spotted anyone worth his time, but his rivals were evolving at a staggering rate.

The Druid of the Golden Rule, the Forgotten God.

And there was one more.

A certain individual who had far exceeded his original guesses.

‘Andrew.’

The man who had stood alongside him to assist the elves within the Primeval Forest.

Even though he had been knocked out, Andrew’s strength had made an impression on the White King.

Furthermore, he had birthed an even more bizarre creature.

Suddenly, a system notification materialized before him.

【The quarter-final duels will now commence.】

【The remaining participant will face off against the ‘Devil Under Knight (Level 90, HP 5,000,000)’.】

【The tournament brackets are as follows:】

【Forgotten God (The First Human) vs Andrew (Heart of Darkness)】

【Druid of the Golden Rule (Eleven Holy Heavens) vs White King (Mok, the King of Ruin)】

【Fabula (Hound of Fanaticism) vs Devil Under Knight】

‘At long last!’

A dark grin spread across the White King’s face.

The match he had been anticipating was finally set!

He would crush his opponent, and eventually the Forgotten God, until he, the White King, stood alone at the top.

By doing so, he would confirm his status as the unrivaled strongest.

You, are you the Lord of Five Calamities?

-You carry the lineage of a sovereign.

-Claim your place as the ruler of the White Tiger Clan and govern the north!

…It was as if those voices were still ringing in his ears.

The sounds of the departed.

The bitterness of those who had once driven him so harshly.

‘Why are these coming back now…’

The White King gave his head a firm shake.

A fragment of his childhood had suddenly clawed its way to the surface.

It was a time he never wished to revisit.

-Do not look back.

-Do not flee.

-Stand firm, keep your eyes on the horizon and run!

Yet, the voices refused to be silenced.

A period when the White King was far smaller than the figure he was today.

A tale from shortly after his birth.

…In the present day, no one in the northern lands would dare challenge the White King, but in those days, he was little more than a vulnerable target for predators.

He had spent his time fleeing because he had been burdened with too much too soon, and he was so cautious that his first instinct was always to scout for a hiding spot.

Perhaps that was why?

From his earliest days, his intuition regarding his own safety was so sharp it was likened to prophecy.

He could sense the outcome of a fight before it even began.

Thus, he only engaged in battles where victory was a certainty.

There was no reason to gamble on a loss.

The invincible, untarnished king.

He had ruled as the absolute master of the north and held dominion over Kramdel, but…

‘Wilhelm was the only one to ever hand me a defeat.’

It had been a first.

A man who carried such a potent aura.

Upon seeing him from a distance, the White King had understood instantly.

That a direct confrontation was something to be avoided at all costs.

However, he was also certain he could evade capture as long as he didn’t commit to a face-to-face brawl.

The complication arose when Wilhelm took Kramdel, and his primary forces, as leverage.

In that moment, for the first time, the White King chose to stand in a place where failure was guaranteed.

He was the monarch of the north.

He could not be a king without his subjects to lead.

And he had been brought low.

‘That loss served as the soil for my growth.’

But the sting of that pain was short-lived.

Ultimately, the White King was able to evolve because of it.

He had tapped into the true legacy of the White Tiger Clan.

As if guided by destiny.

When he finally chose to act like a true king, he unlocked the powers of a king.

‘Wilhelm. I’d like to test myself against that man one more time.’

If their paths crossed again, he felt a desire to clash with him once more.

Because he now possessed the fortitude and the certainty to stay and fight.

“Druid of the Golden Rule. You carry a peculiar scent.”

Sniff sniff.

The White King, having taken a deep breath, let out a soft smile.

He had just caught the aroma of triumph.

A powerful sense of impending victory.

Yet, buried within it was one highly unusual trace.

“What sort of scent are you referring to?”

The Druid of the Golden Rule asked, clearly puzzled.

It was obvious he wasn’t talking about a physical smell.

It was about the very essence of his being, something far more profound.

The White King gave a nod.

“It is a very familiar aroma. The Lord of Five Calamities… why does the scent of that crow cling to you?”

It had been present from the start.

From the second he stepped onto the grounds where the World Tree of Honor stood, the presence of a crow was thick in the air.

A scent that remained hidden from others.

The trace of that individual, which only the awakened White King could detect, was drifting from every direction.

And when he realized the source of that scent was the Druid of the Golden Rule, he was momentarily lost for an explanation.

It was only logical.

The Druid of the Golden Rule was certainly no crow.

He lacked the foulness and the suffocatingly dark energy that the pitch-black crow radiated.

If anything, it was the exact opposite.

A being of light and sanctity.

And yet, why did the essence of the Lord of Five Calamities linger on the Druid of the Golden Rule?

He wanted to confront him directly if the chance arose.

You, are you the Lord of Five Calamities?

“…I am not entirely sure of that myself.”

The Druid of the Golden Rule offered a shrug.

Indeed… would the Lord of Five Calamities, that ominous crow, ever dare to take the shape of the Druid of the Golden Rule?

He was well aware of how dangerous the Lord of Five Calamities was, having faced that darkness himself.