Chapter 345

Chapter 345
## Chapter 345

‘She’s… mimicking sentiment.’

It had to be a mere facade.

Yet, why?

What caused Lilith to become so fixated on the Druid of the Golden Rule that she actually loosened the Forgotten God’s grip on her?

This was unprecedented behavior for the primal mother, the very wellspring of malice. That fact made the situation all the more baffling. The deity could not discern what specific trigger had caused this reaction. However, if the creature was simulating emotions to gain the man’s favor, it meant the Druid of the Golden Rule was a prize beyond measure.

‘The Druid of the Golden Rule has transformed. His sanctity has deepened, taking the shape of an ancient, sovereign predator.’

It was an undeniable fusion of a primordial calamity and a mortal man. To her eyes, it appeared as though the Nameless Devourer had donned a human skin. But was such a feat even attainable?

‘The ancient beasts are untamable. To merge or assimilate with them is a logical impossibility.’

These were the Great Beasts of old—colossal, bloodthirsty entities that once vied for divinity itself. They had spent eons slaughtering and consuming one another in a cycle of endless mutation. Eventually, their own insatiable hunger led to their downfall, yet those among them known as the ‘Old Ones’ possessed traits that made even the heavens wary.

In their specific domains, their power was absolute and transcendent. The issue was their inherent incompatibility; they were forces of pure destruction and instinct, which is why they eventually faded into the shroud of history.

‘If these primordial terrors still roamed, no grand civilization could have ever taken root.’

Any burgeoning society would have been crushed into the dirt. They would have been snuffed out in the cradle. To suggest someone had broken an ‘Old One’ to their will? It was preposterous. The concept of a master was alien to such beings. They were incapable of affection or loyalty by their very design.

The ruinous impulses etched into their essence would remain even if refined by a Monster Soul; if anything, such evolution would only sharpen their hunger. Yet, the Druid of the Golden Rule governed it with total precision. He had achieved a miraculous equilibrium with a prehistoric nightmare. If such a thing were possible, there was only one explanation.

‘The sovereign of the ancient beasts.’

Only the progenitor god who first drafted the blueprints of those monsters could command them. A true deity of the dawn of time. While it was said that gods are eternal, that was a half-truth. As eras pass and beliefs shift, gods are consigned to oblivion. No deity from the primitive age remained in this world. Therefore, it was impossible for the Druid of the Golden Rule to be such a being.

‘It is a deception. He is using a divine mask to lead them astray. They have all been hoodwinked.’

The Forgotten God’s hand tightened into a fist. Logic aside, she simply could not tolerate the sight before her.

“Uwa! Awooo!”

It was revolting to watch Lilith, her personal instrument, fawn over this man like a common pet.

—Cease this.

Stop at once.

“Awooo—!”

—He is a fraud. He is leading you to ruin.

“Awooo!”

—Will you persist in defying my commands?

The Forgotten God shook with fury. Her puppet was no longer responding to her will. There was only one remaining course of action.

—I shall take control myself.

In an instant, the Forgotten God’s ethereal form vanished.

“Ah…!”

Lilith froze.

“Ugh!”

The girl squeezed her eyes shut, her body wracked with tremors as she fought the intrusion, but her resistance was futile. As the shaking subsided, Lilith’s eyes snapped open. The girl who was there before had vanished.

Her irises were now swallowed by ink-black darkness. Above her head, a sun of shadow marked with crimson, wound-like spots pulsed with light. With a sharp motion, the Forgotten God, now inhabiting Lilith’s flesh, flexed her fingers. A cold, mocking grin spread across her face.

“…I will introduce you to the true depths of the abyss, child.”

Initially, she had considered reclaiming him from the other goddesses, but her resolve had shifted. She finally understood why those two protected him. They were under his spell. He clearly possessed some profane charisma that ensnared women—the goddesses, the girl, and even her own vessel.

Because of this, he had to be eliminated.

‘I will drown you in a shadow so thick you will never see the light again.’

She would ensure such a transgression never repeated itself.

—

A tide of shadow was rising.

It was a vast, suffocating gloom that threatened to swallow the entire arena. One by one, the spectators and combatants were being pulled into the murk.

“O Druid of the Golden Rule…!”

“What is this…”

Neither Albino nor Lyca could withstand the onslaught. Everyone present was being submerged in a visceral, unimaginable ‘evil.’

“Make it stop! No!”

“Aaaah!”

They were encased in shards of dark glass, paralyzed. Their only recourse was to scream and claw at themselves in agony. Their eyes burned with a dark fire, losing all sense of self. I, however, remained untouched.

《The ‘Evil of the Origin’ is spreading.》

《The ‘Nameless Eagle’ bolsters your sacred protection.》

《‘Primordial Holiness’ has been activated.》

The swirling malice probed my defenses, searching for the smallest crack. A single moment of weakness would allow it to flood my soul.

“How long can you hold out? And even if you do, what of your companions?” the Forgotten God taunted.

This was no longer a contest of skill or a dignified duel. I looked at the deity and sighed.

“How miserable.”

She was truly pathetic. I had encountered many beings, but never a god this small-minded. Even the version of the Forgotten God I met in the World Tree’s labyrinth seemed like a paragon of virtue compared to this. That one was unpleasant, but he held to a standard of fairness. The entity before me possessed none.

“Stop! Please!”

“I didn’t do it!”

“I’ll slaughter you all…!”

The shadows writhed. Those claimed by the darkness were being twisted into vessels of pure rage. Their eyes turned toward me with murderous intent. I had to concede one point: the darkness radiating from Lilith, fueled by a dark god, was incredibly potent. Without genuine, high-tier sanctity, it was impossible to endure.

‘So this is the weight of a dark divinity.’

It was truly foul. One by one, the corrupted warriors began their charge.

“Die—!”

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

The entire Knight Order of the Golden Rule and the Knight Order of the White King fell upon me at once.

—

The White King had been certain of his victory. He believed his spiritual capacity was far superior. That confidence was why he had manifested the ‘sphere of evolution,’ intending to consume his opponent’s soul.

But the White King had miscalculated. The Druid’s soul was not just large; it was incomprehensible. The moment he tried to read its essence, the White King’s mind fractured.

‘What… what have I done…’

There were two distinct currents within that soul. One was the Druid of the Golden Rule, radiant with holy light. The other, however, was the problem. It was an enigma—something alien and terrifying that should not exist alongside the divine. Yet, the essence of a soul is indivisible. Much like a living creature cannot separate its core instincts, these two natures existed as one.

‘It’s eating me…!’

He realized too late. This was not a soul to be consumed. If he reached out, he would be the one devoured. He hadn’t even made contact; the mere sight of it had sent him into a blackout.

—Get away. Run as far as you can.

—That thing exists outside the laws of evolution.

—Do not look at it. Do not acknowledge it. Turn and flee.

—Forget what you saw. Wipe it from your mind. You saw nothing.

The lineage of the White Tiger Emperor and the collective ancestors of the White Tiger Clan recoiled in horror. The voices that usually commanded him never to retreat, that told him a King must always stand his ground, were now screaming at him to hide.

In his final moments of lucidity, the White King realized the source of the ‘vile scent’ he had noticed earlier. It was that dark ‘grain’ within the soul. To touch it was to face absolute erasure. Not a warrior’s death, but total annihilation.

Even now, trapped in a waking nightmare, the White King was losing himself to the dark god’s influence.

“Oh, Wilhelm.”

The figure before him looked like his old comrade. He prepared to strike, but the vision shifted.

“Lord of Five Calamities? You survived!”

Joy flared within him. He thought the Lord was lost.

Come back to Kramdel. I will give you everything. I will give you Aria, or any other child you desire. You shall rule the North.

But then, the image flickered again. The White King’s expression turned to stone as he whispered, “You… what are you?”

—

“Relinquish your will and embrace the dark,” the Forgotten God said with an air of victory. The omen of death was already upon me.

She was right; I was reaching my breaking point. There were no more evolutions left to trigger. With my current strength, I couldn’t repel the combined might of everyone in the arena. Even with the Nameless Eagle’s power, I couldn’t fight Albino, Lyca, and the White King simultaneously.

‘If I can just hold on…’

There was a sliver of hope. The more powerful the individual, the sooner they would resist the mental corruption. Albino and the others were already starting to fight back against the gloom. However, I would likely be dead before they fully regained their senses.

‘An honorable duel.’

I pondered the concept. Was there any honor left in this? The dungeon rules had mandated a fair fight. Why was I the only one burdened by that requirement? And something else didn’t add up.

‘The Forgotten God loathes infamy?’

That made no sense. This deity seemed to revel in cruelty.

‘Perhaps my definition of honor and hers are fundamentally different.’

It was likely. Honor is subjective, a product of one’s culture and era. To her, ‘victory’ was the only honor that mattered.

“You have won. I concede,” I stated clearly.

The Forgotten God smirked. “It is far too late for that. Simply perish.”

As I suspected. I gave a small, internal nod. Even with my surrender, she had no intention of showing mercy. If this was her version of ‘honor,’ then the fight was a sham from the start.

If she refused to observe the etiquette of combat, then I was no longer bound by it. The last reason to show this deity any respect had evaporated. I had played by the rules until this moment, evolving my Monster Soul and holding back my most dangerous assets to maintain a fair environment. I had done so out of a sense of duty to the divine. That duty was now void.