The Usual UFC (1)
Karne had not been called the Mother of Ill Omens from the very beginning. Rather, she was once revered as the Mother of All Things who watched over humanity. An existence far removed from humankind, a phantom beast. Karne was a supreme being who wielded the power of life, a blessing descended upon the mortal realm. Her gentle touch enriched the land, and her warm breath gave birth to new life. Humans revered Karne, the Mother of All Things. They built sanctuaries and offered prayers to her every day. She loved that reverence. As the mother of all, it was only natural to receive her children's devoted love. The reverse was also true. Karne bestowed love and made the world fertile. But love was not fair. Karne loved all her children, yet her children did not love her in return.
“Why…?”
Betrayal came. The high priest she had trusted most turned his back on her. The very creatures she had nurtured drove her away.
“This harlot is no longer our mother! She is not our god! We will put an end to this idolatry!”
The reason was simple. Karne was an old faith, and a new wind of belief was blowing through the world. In that process, she was merely something outdated, a trivial existence destined to wear away, unloved. Sanctuaries across the land were torn down. The sacred relics once offered to her were melted in furnaces to become chalices for the new god, and the priests who had served her changed their allegiance one by one. Karne began to fade from memory, worn away by the passage of time.
“I see.”
Karne did not resent them. Her children were simply seeking a new path. As their mother, she should not begrudge them that. That was what she told herself. Until the moment a so-called hero drove a blade into her heart.
The descendants of the children who had come seeking her in her seclusion mercilessly tore her wings, ripped away her flesh, and plunged a sword into her heart. At first, she did not resist. She believed the matter could be resolved through dialogue. After all, the ones standing before her were also part of the life she had created.
“We have slain the root of evil, the Demon King! We are finally free!”
But when the hero shouted those triumphant words, Karne understood. In the outside world, she had apparently been called the Demon King.
“…Ha, haha.”
Karne, who had once been the Mother of All Things, was now the root of evil and the Demon King who disrupted the order of the new world. Though she met her death at the hands of her own children, Karne was a phantom beast—an existence that stood one step beyond death itself.
“Since they are lives I created, it is my right to take them back.”
From that moment on, Karne resented the world and cursed humanity. Her hatred manifested as a natural force. She unfurled the black wings she had kept folded. She reaped what she had sown, withered the land, dried up blood, and rotted flesh. The world and the lives she had once created began to lose their vitality. The world she had once loved fell into decay. The Mother of All Things no longer existed. Instead, she gained a new name.
“…An ill omen! An ill omen has risen!”
Wherever Karne, cloaked in darkness, passed, plagues bloomed. Cities crumbled, and the land blackened and burned. Life vanished from every place her hand touched. She scorched half the world. All of humanity was forced to remember the Demon King once more—the Mother of Ill Omens, Karne.
“…Ha, haha.”
Decades passed, and the world withered miserably. Even then, Karne was still called the cursed ill omen. She was the source of ruin, the Mother of Ill Omens, and the evil that extinguished life. Yet she could not stop. Or rather, she could not afford to stop. She had to dig up the graves of her now-dead children and demand answers.
“Why did you abandon me?”
Until she received an answer to that question, her curse would never end. But no answer would ever come. Therefore, she would remain an ill omen for all eternity. That was what she believed.
Entering the Rift.
The Rift's Master 「Actor」 has gifted the 5★ Mother of Ill Omens Karne with the 5☆ Source of Life.
Until she met her new child within the Rift.
*
“So, according to what you’re saying, Karne is in China?”
“Yep, yep.”
Still nestled in my arms, Mirien continued. According to the story, Karne seemed to have taken refuge in a rural village in China. Even while listening, I kept glancing at Selene. Fortunately, Selene, who had initially glared at Mirien as if she wanted to kill her, did not act on it. Perhaps she thought it would harm me. Whatever the reason, a chill ran down my spine.
“Anyway, if Karne is in China… that means we have to go there.”
Why China, of all places? I thought hard about it, but no plausible answer came to mind. Well, in a way, it made sense. If you roughly pointed at a map, the odds were high it would land on China, Russia, or the United States.
“Hmm.”
I frowned. Confirming the location of a 5-star disaster was good, at least. However, even Mirien’s tracking magic could not reveal what Karne was doing there.
“What could Karne be plotting? The fact that there’s been no news means she hasn’t shown herself directly.”
Selene had emerged from the Abyss during the first Rift Eruption and roamed everywhere, while Mirien had built a massive tower the moment she arrived in this world. So what was Karne doing? There had been no reports of a 5-star disaster appearing in China.
‘Karne was definitely a character specialized in covert operations.’
What worried me most was the performance of the character known as the Mother of Ill Omens Karne. Unlike Selene, who specialized in direct combat, or Mirien, who was closer to a damage dealer and supporter, Karne specialized in tailing, surveillance, and assassination. I remembered sending her on expeditions that required stealth rather than direct combat, since she was not a disaster meant for frontline battles. If Karne decided to cause trouble with full intent, it would be an area that even Selene and Mirien, both 5-stars, could not handle.
Perhaps sensing my concern, Selene spoke up.
“My Lord, there is one thing that concerns me… May I speak of it?”
Selene, who had been quietly watching me, bent one knee and spoke. Sensing the atmosphere had turned serious, Mirien climbed down from my lap.
“…Go ahead. What is it?”
“It concerns Karne, that woman.”
Selene narrowed one eye as she continued.
“Previously, I had several conversations with the Mother of Ill Omens Karne inside the Rift. Though she was a filthy harlot dressed like a prostitute who falsely claimed to be My Lord’s mother, her feelings of affection toward My Lord were genuine.”
“…”
I decided not to point out the epithets Selene had attached to Karne.
“…So?”
“However, all the disasters My Lord commands were once abandoned by the world. Therefore, now that they have been abandoned a second time, we cannot know what feelings they may hold toward My Lord.”
“…You’re saying the only ones still loyal to me might be the two of you?”
“Yes.”
Selene had come to me directly even after being fired from the base and begged to become my subordinate. Mirien, though her methods had been wrong, had acted out of concern for my safety. But it was difficult to assume the other two disasters felt the same. They might even harbor resentment over being expelled from the base.
“More than anything… Karne is somewhat different from the two of us.”
“Different how?”
“Because she was once abandoned by her own child, and now that she has been abandoned again by My Lord, whom she regards as a child…”
Selene hesitated and glanced at me. But I could easily guess what she was about to say.
“She might hate me?”
“…That is correct.”
Listening to Selene’s words, something came to mind—the words Kang Se-na had told me around the time I had just become an S-class Awakened. It was definitely…
‘Didn’t she say three 4-star disasters that appeared in China had swept through a major city?’
I took out my phone and searched for related articles. Though they were from several months ago, they were not difficult to find. The moment I saw the first article that appeared, I let out a sigh.
“…Wow.”
It was Mirien who exclaimed.
*
Karne faced a new world within the Rift. There, she found salvation.
The Rift's Master 「Actor」 has gifted the 5★ Mother of Ill Omens Karne with the 5☆ Source of Life.
The Source of Life. The authority Karne had once relinquished when she spread her wings. The Rift’s Master, Actor, restored that authority and cleansed the plagues and corruption that had clung to her tainted body. More than that, he offered her tribute, just as the believers of the old world once had.
“What value could there be in this terrible disaster…?”
Karne was an ill omen. A terrible disaster who had corrupted the entire world she herself had cultivated with her own hands. A great sinner who should not feel happiness and could not feel it. Yet within Actor’s Rift, Karne was treated equally. She received the love she had lost in the previous world. In the end, she too could not help but be satisfied with her new life.
“If you have any wish for this mother, speak it. Anything is fine.”
The Rift's Master 「Actor」 has ordered the 5★ Mother of Ill Omens Karne to undertake the 5☆ 「Twilight Abyss」 expedition.
Karne had received love, and she was willing to return it. Naturally, maternal affection began to sprout. This was different from the previous world. Her new child gave love generously, and in return received even more. Though she never said it aloud, just as Karne cherished Actor, he cherished her as well. Karne liked this world within the Rift. Though there was only one, she had a believer who looked only at her, and a beloved child. She thought so, if only for a moment.
The 5★ Mother of Ill Omens Karne has been fired.
The disasters have been liberated. Their power is immense and will bring ruin to another world. This decision cannot be undone!
[Y]
“…I see. So this time, too, you abandon this mother.”
Karne had been abandoned once again. This time, she was not surprised. Having experienced it before, she did not fall into despair. Instead, she did not resign herself either. Just as she had in the previous world, Karne intended to dye this newly entered world with her feathers once more.
“…Why?”
After painting the entire world black, she would ask again.
“Why did you abandon me?”
Time lost its meaning.
The Mother of Ill Omens Karne sings of ruin. Fear the night.
The ill omen’s curse would last forever.