Chapter 400

Chapter 400
## Chapter 400

—

The true intention behind constructing a ‘home’.

What defines a home?

It was a sanctuary for life.

A location where an individual could shut out the freezing cold, the blistering heat, the downpours, and the howling winds to live in security—that was the essence of a ‘home’.

A structure robust enough to withstand violent impacts, providing solace and a safe harbor for one’s most precious possessions.

In short, a ‘home’ served as the ultimate manifestation of a person’s identity.

Yet, Park Hyeon-myeong was in the midst of building one.

Without any formal instruction, he was instinctively forging the ribs of the structure, laying down the groundwork, and positioning each brick with purpose.

This was no mere hut or simple shelter; he was crafting a residence that resembled a gargantuan fortress.

And that was… peculiar.

Since Park Hyeon-myeong lived a solitary existence, there was no logical requirement for a dwelling of such magnitude.

Even if he managed to finish it, the task of maintaining such a place seemed insurmountable.

If that were the case… what exactly did he plan to house inside that necessitated such a massive construction?

It appeared that even if he gathered the remnants of the 12 walls that had previously crumbled, they would hardly suffice to complete this monumental task.

-…….

Initially, the ‘Eye’ was taken aback, but as moments passed, its bewilderment turned into fascination.

It was captivated by the fact that Park Hyeon-myeong was achieving completion entirely through his own volition.

Typically, when mortals resign themselves to death, they cease all movement and their thoughts grind to a halt.

The spark of creativity required to birth something new usually flickers out long before the end.

However, after embracing his demise, Park Hyeon-myeong’s creative drive was erupting with even greater ferocity.

He had moved beyond the constraints of death.

This was a feat far beyond the reach of a common human.

It would likely be an impossible task even for the Deity of Death himself.

Death was the process of being ushered into a state of absolute void (無).

The instant one acknowledges and submits to it, the natural response is total stasis.

Yet, if a motive force exists to keep one moving perpetually even at the brink of extinction…

-…… The Demon of Greed.

That could only be the work of the ‘Demon of Greed’.

Thus, the ‘Mouth’ that manifested below the Eye gazed upon Park Hyeon-myeong and uttered those specific words.

Park Hyeon-myeong was the physical embodiment of Greed.

The entity that had once risked the very stability of the cosmos in the ancient past.

The being that even the Celestial Realm had watched with wary eyes…

A creature that stood in a league far above mere devils.

Belonging to neither the radiance nor the shadows, that monster of pure acquisition was finally opening his eyes with true intent.

-Wilhelm ascended as a Martial God. Randolph reached his zenith as the End.

The ‘Mouth’ persisted in its commentary.

Much like the ‘Eye’, it watched with profound curiosity.

Wilhelm had given form to his own reality through the ‘Creation of Heaven and Earth’.

He had solidified his status as a ‘Martial God’, possessing a degree of perfection that eclipsed even the ‘Sect Leaders’ who had pioneered other Hidden Traits.

Martial God Wilhelm.

His divinity had already ascended to the rank of a Primal Deity.

In a direct, one-on-one confrontation, he was at a level where he could plausibly challenge the Demon of Greed at the height of his power.

On the other hand, what of Randolph?

By fully embracing the furthest reaches of darkness, he seized a different title for calamity: the End.

This was a fourth manifestation of ruin that did not exist within the records of the ‘Heavens’.

For in the celestial archives, only Ruin, Extermination, and Destruction were recognized.

Should Randolph release the full extent of his shadow, he could easily bring a final conclusion to an entire world.

Furthermore, even now, he functioned as the ‘Key of the Heavens’.

-Demon of Greed. What is the object of your creation?

… Now, only Park Hyeon-myeong remained unfinished.

It was because of the inherent nature of the Demon of Greed that Wilhelm and Randolph were able to reach their final forms.

Conversely, Park Hyeon-myeong himself had yet to find completion.

Was it because he was overshadowed by two beings of such overwhelming power?

It seemed he was lost on how to finalize his own existence.

But upon welcoming his own passing.

Paradoxically, Park Hyeon-myeong was laboring even more feverishly toward his own fulfillment.

It was a total contradiction.

A logical impossibility.

-Ha. So Wilhelm and Randolph were merely the opening acts…….

The ‘Mouth’ felt it finally grasped why the ‘Eye’ observed Park Hyeon-myeong with such intense scrutiny.

In the era of myths, the Demon of Greed had failed to slay Ruin.

He had managed to reach Ruin, but his progress stopped there.

However, the fact remained that he did reach that point.

Reaching it implied that he had kept pace with his adversary to a certain degree.

It meant he had felt the chasm between them and had seen the path forward.

Which signified…

… That if granted another opportunity, he possessed the potential to shatter that barrier.

If he refused to surrender.

If his hunger remained boundless.

Indeed.

The essence of the Demon of Greed required a trial run.

He needed to know what was required to truly touch Ruin.

He needed to understand how to evolve to crush that foe.

He brought Wilhelm and Randolph to their peaks to discover those answers.

Quite literally, they were his experimental subjects.

By watching them forge their own dimensions and trigger the End, he observed the extremes of both poles.

The insights the Demon of Greed lacked… the concepts he couldn’t grasp, he absorbed through the experiences of Wilhelm and Randolph.

And now, the Demon of Greed was no longer acting on mere impulse; he had begun his true advancement.

The Park Hyeon-myeong standing here was indistinguishable from the Demon of Greed.

That fortress-like home was a staging ground to destroy Ruin, and a reservoir to hold the precious realization the Demon of Greed had finally attained.

… Was it not startling?

That irrational conduct.

The reality that he was moving on pure instinct rather than cold calculation.

Driven solely by the craving for victory.

It was the result of countless ages of discipline born from pure avarice.

-…… I anticipate the final result.

It defied all expectations.

The Demon of Greed.

The notion that he had utilized Wilhelm and Randolph as mere warm-ups just to construct this residence was bordering on the absurd.

Naturally, there was a chance he might fail.

The scale of the house was simply too vast.

Demolishing 12 walls wouldn’t even come close to providing enough substance.

It was also a mystery where he would source the remaining components.

If this was a radical new concept, it didn’t look like he would draw from the Heavens or from Wilhelm.

And even if he finished it, Park Hyeon-myeong’s consciousness was already rooted in ‘death’.

The ‘home’ was already exerting pressure on the world outside and the ‘Labyrinth’, but… if he intended for Park Hyeon-myeong to ‘live’, he required a potent memory strong enough to trigger a reaction.

-However, the ‘Fire’ may yet flicker out.

As the ‘Eye’ scanned the horizon, the ‘Mouth’ spoke again.

The Labyrinth.

If the ‘First Fire’ at its core were to be extinguished, Park Hyeon-myeong’s spirit would vanish along with it.

For the ultimate proof of his existence was tied directly to that First Fire.

However, the opposition from those storming the Labyrinth was relentless.

Would Park Hyeon-myeong’s allies be capable of defending the First Fire?

Would the Demon of Greed, who had spent eternity drifting without a purpose, finally finish his own dwelling?

The ‘Eye’ and the ‘Mouth’ opted to observe in silence.

Regardless of the eventual conclusion,

…… The gamble had been made.

“…… Curse it all.”

In a hidden corner of the Pangaea continent.

A man bolted upright from his seat, his brow furrowed in frustration.

The name hovering above his head was ‘MintChocolateIsDelicious’.

“Of all the possibilities, the Blade Dragon God had to show up……”

Hana, the Blade Dragon God.

She had claimed the title of Dragon God of Earth, though she lacked the formal recognition of the ‘Dragon God Society’.

Nevertheless, her power was nonsensical.

She was far more formidable than during her initial appearance.

“I’ve just lost a very valuable puppet.”

The man shook his head in disappointment.

The Dark Elf Lord was an avatar he had invested a great deal of effort into developing.

It had even managed to survive the trials of the Tower of the War God on its own.

Yet it was obliterated in a heartbeat.

The sheer martial prowess of the Blade Dragon God was far beyond his calculations.

It wasn’t even in the same league as her performance against the Second Monarch Lee Se-ra during the 2nd Invasion.

*Sigh.*

Letting out a weary breath, the man clicked his tongue.

A loss was a loss.

There was no bringing that avatar back to life.

‘The Black King can’t afford to fall just yet, though…….’

He was plagued by the worry that his hard work would go to waste.

In the case of the Black King specifically, it wasn’t his time to exit the stage.

He was too vital to be removed now.

Even though he had personally met his end, that was precisely why he had been so involved in the Labyrinth’s exploration.

‘Identifying the whereabouts of the remaining two of the Four Perils is a task only the Black King, who has tapped into Despair, can achieve.’

His ultimate aim was the full revival of the Four Perils.

The fact that the Black Tiger Tribe had come into possession of Despair was part of that grander scheme.

He was the one who had located the dormant Despair and delivered it to them.

While Ba’al and Despair had been brought back, the other two remained hidden.

Truthfully, he still found it hard to believe that Ba’al had actually returned.

‘Randolph…….’

Nothing involving Randolph ever followed the rules of logic.

Since he was an anomaly himself, he must have been the catalyst for Ba’al’s resurrection.

This situation was no different.

The entities guarding against the Evil Deity Cult’s incursion were all performing beyond any rational expectation.

“Aslan-nim. King Friedrich has arrived to see you.”

“…… I’ll be out in a moment.”

Responding to the sudden voice, he answered calmly.

Aslan.

The head of the ‘Aslan Merchant Guild’, one of Pangaea’s three major commercial powers.

This was another avatar of ‘MintChocolateIsDelicious’.

Slowly, the name etched above his head started to fade away.

‘Until I can regain my lost Karma, I’ll have to rely on this avatar for the time being.’

The destruction of the Dark Elf Lord had cost him a staggering amount of Karma.

‘At this rate…… it’s going to take a while before I can log back into my main character.’

Shaking his head once more, Aslan exited the room.

“Aaaaaagh!”

“M-my arm! It’s gone!”

It was nothing short of a bloodbath.

The foot soldiers of the Evil Deity Cult were being decimated in the path of the Blade Dragon God.

Resistance was futile.

Even the thought of fleeing was a luxury they didn’t have.

However, the high-ranking members of the Evil Deity Cult watched the carnage with cold indifference.

“She’s lost all reason.”

“Ah, there’s no doubt, she has become a ‘Berserker’.”

That mental state.

She looked as though she were consumed by a divine madness.

It was impossible to view her as a rational Dragon God anymore.

That was undoubtedly why the Dark Elf Lord had been cut down without even a chance to fight back.

Though the cause of her frenzy remained a mystery to them…

… Such a state could not be maintained indefinitely.

Eventually, she would burn herself out and collapse.

“Is it my turn to step in?”

A man hidden behind a ‘Pig’ mask moved to the front.

He was a massive figure, a mountain of flesh layered upon itself.

“Against a foe of that magnitude, you are indeed the best choice.”

The Golden Mask nodded in approval.

Attempting a direct clash against a frenzied Blade Dragon God would be an act of suicide.

Judging by the suffocating pressure of the magical energy radiating from her, they wouldn’t be able to secure a victory without sustaining heavy losses.

But she was a beast that would eventually destroy herself if they simply delayed her.

And there was no one better at stalling than the Golden Pig.

*Hoooooooow!*

The man in the Golden Pig mask opened his jaws wide and took a massive breath.

Then.

*Boom!*

The earth buckled, and everything in the vicinity was violently drawn toward his open mouth.

The soldiers were swept up in the vacuum.

Even the ‘Blade Dragon God’ was caught in the pull.

*Belch!*

After a few moments, the Golden Pig, having swallowed the Blade Dragon God along with nearly a hundred soldiers, let out a loud burp.

It was an act of supernatural gluttony.

His power to inhale and cage anything within himself was unparalleled.

While there were limits to consuming entities as massive as the Star Guardians, he could easily imprison someone of normal human proportions like the Blade Dragon God.

His internal organs were similarly indestructible.

They had been reinforced to an absurd degree after he had consumed Outer Gods.

A mere Dragon God stood no chance.

Once her berserk state faded, she would be dissolved by his digestive fluids.

“I’ll take a short break while the digestion finishes.”

The sole drawback was his inability to move during the process.

The Golden Pig found a spot and lowered himself to the ground.

It was in that very moment.

“Hm……?!”

*Gurgle!*

*Gurgle!*

Suddenly, his midsection began to twitch violently.

“W-what is happening?”

The Golden Pig panicked.

He had never experienced anything like this before.

The sheer agony in his abdomen made it impossible to even think clearly.

In that heartbeat.

“K-ugh! Agh!”

The Golden Pig let out a final, strangled cry.

The pain was only the beginning.

*Riiiiiip!*

…… His stomach was sliced open from the inside, the flesh tearing apart in two directions.

The Golden Pig’s life ended right then and there.

He died instantly.

Following the rupture.

*Splatter!*

Something forced its way out of the ruined stomach.

A nightmare drenched in crimson from head to toe.

Blade Dragon God Hana.

In that instant.

…… A look of pure shock filled the eyes of the Evil Deity Cult leaders as they stared at her.

It was the first time they had ever witnessed a being that the Golden Pig failed to break down.

And then there were those eyes, and that terrifying presence……

“…… It seems we must stop holding back as well.”

The Golden Mask spoke with heavy gravity.