An Unprecedented Myth

"What the hell is this all of a sudden?"

Every player reeled in simultaneous confusion.

Countless lines of text had erupted without warning, and the contents of the announcement were utterly alien even to them.

"Truth Seeking, Dimensional Comprehension, Black Blood… just how many talents just spawned?"

"Has anything like this ever happened before?"

Absolutely not.

Towers had risen and the lands of the Abyss had surged upward before, but never once had "new talents" bloomed for every single player at once. And even the talents that had appeared defied easy understanding.

"So this is connected to the Rift Tower, then?"

"Looks like they're telling us to earn SP from the Rift Tower and invest it into those talents."

"We can already get massive amounts of Golden Rule fragments that are normally impossible to find!"

"But what's this Level Limit Release?"

"Does it mean skill proficiency caps are gone, or that we can push past Level 10?"

Reading the announcement again changed nothing. Without actually selecting a talent and climbing the tower themselves, there was no way to know for certain.

But something else gnawed at them far more than any of those details.

"Why did this appear out of nowhere?"

"It's right there in the announcement. Someone destroyed a 'Dimensional Gate,' and that's why the Rift Tower rose."

"What's a Dimensional Gate? And who smashed it?"

"How would I know? One thing's for sure — it wasn't a player."

Some force on the scale of an empire, or some other supreme existence, had clearly set events in motion somewhere beyond their knowledge. But it didn't matter who. With the real world's corruption rate already closing in on twenty percent, this opportunity was worth its weight in gold.

That was when it happened.

Another line of text, appearing at the most inevitable possible moment.

The Hall of Fame. Someone had clearly steamrolled a quest with an absurd score. But why now, of all times? Even allowing for a slight delay, the timing was far too convenient. New talents ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had bloomed and the Rift Tower had risen — and the Hall of Fame rankings had shifted in the very same instant.

"No way…"

"They wiped out the contamination source and took down the Dimensional Gate at the same time?"

"Who?"

"…There's only one person it could be for Main Quest 8."

And if it was Main Quest 8 — only one person alive could dominate that stretch so completely. A latecomer who had crushed every early starter in his path. The one who never once surrendered first place, always holding it with overwhelming scores.

Phantom!

But the moment the name and ranking appeared, every player without exception stared in pure, speechless horror.

"…You've got to be kidding me!!"

"What the hell is this…"

"…Is this real?"

"No, even for him, this is…"

"This has to be rigged, right?"

The Constellation of the Brilliant Hero.

His body trembled as if seized by a thrill.

"…Beautiful."

The story he had just witnessed was so beautiful that the price he paid felt like nothing at all. Randolph's heroic saga was rekindling a heroism he had long since forgotten.

"Constellation of the Brilliant Hero. Don't tell me you actually watched it?"

"Hah… even for one such as you, bearing that alone would be no small burden."

Every constellation turned to look at him. They had all averted their eyes from Randolph's story. They could not endure the "consumption" it demanded, so they had forced themselves not to look.

But the Constellation of the Brilliant Hero was different. He alone had taken in Randolph's tale.

The problem was the starlight it cost. The feat Randolph had achieved was far too vast for his starlight to cover. Without remaining starlight, a constellation's fate was simply to fade away.

And yet—

"…I am satisfied."

Even as every last shred of his starlight evaporated, the Constellation of the Brilliant Hero smiled — just as every constellation that had faded before him had done. Randolph's stories had always filled the emptiness inside them. And this time, the satisfaction was beyond any comparison to what had come before.

Even knowing Isabella had recovered her memories, he still threw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠himself forward.

In the end, only catastrophe remained. A relationship destined for ruin. He had thought this might finally be the one story that could not be broken free of — and he had been utterly wrong. Even so, Randolph had shown a self-sacrificing nature. He was far more human, and far more heroic, than expected.

And more than that—

The Blood Demon King. To digest a cosmic existence like that…

It was absurd. As always, a story impossible to predict. Who else would ever attempt something so insane? No one but Randolph. Only Randolph could pull off a mad act like that.

"Hahaha!"

Even thinking about it again left him breathless. How could anyone even conceive of such a thing? Using his own body as collateral to force the Blood Demon King inside himself. Most people only ever thought of eliminating a contamination source — never of letting themselves be contaminated by it.

His booming laughter made the other constellations tilt their heads.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Just what kind of story did you see?"

"You, who almost never laugh…"

"Can you not tell us?"

A natural reaction. They didn't know — because they hadn't watched. They knew only the result: that single brief sentence announcing Main Quest 8 had finally been completed.

The superiority of knowing the full story that no other constellation had seen. And they would never have imagined a tale of such pure, concentrated brilliance.

But he could not tell them. And he had no intention of telling them. The Constellation of the Brilliant Hero was truly, completely satisfied.

Consecutive myths left unsettled. And starlight that has taken a constellation's very existence into itself. You have satisfied every condition for a Unique-grade manifestation.

The myth of eliminating Baal, and the digestion of the Blood Demon King on top of it. There was nothing to criticize. And so the Constellation of the Brilliant Hero freely offered up every last scrap of his starlight. Starlight that had composed his very being would be enough to fulfill the final condition.

This was not starlight stolen and vanishing — it was starlight he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surrendered of his own free will, in satisfaction. The quantity and quality of it existed on an entirely different plane.

And still, to the very end, the Constellation of the Brilliant Hero never lost his smile.

…Because he was satisfied.

Because he had been filled.

Because the emptiness no longer touched him at all.

"Thank you. Randolph."

His presence began to blur, fading little by little.

Like a cast-off skin, the darkness peeled away.

The moment the human form beneath it was revealed, Aria's mouth fell open wide.

"Th-that appearance…!!!"

It was unmistakably the man she had seen at the Mountain of the Cultivator. She had been unconscious then, so the memory was hazy — but combined with the circumstances of him drawing out Sword Gang, she was certain.

The Fifth Lord is human?

But he was the Fifth Lord. Kramdel was a place humans were strictly forbidden to approach, and the seats of the Lords were positions only the carefully selected and recognized could ever attain. Did that mean a human had deceived the residents of Kramdel, the Four Lords, and even the White King himself to become the Fifth Lord?

How was that even possible?

Perhaps he was something else merely wearing a human shape. But that form, and the scent that had suddenly grown so sharp, were unmistakably human.

Aria was certain now.

He was deceiving all of us!

He had been human all along, pretending otherwise, toying with every last one of them. If word got out that the Fifth Lord was human, what would happen? The other Lords and the White King would become laughingstocks. It was a catastrophe that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could shake the very foundations of Kramdel itself. With war against the Black King looming, the soldiers' morale could collapse overnight.

I have to eliminate him here…

Aria bit down on her lip. They despised humans. It was almost instinct. Aria was no different. And more than anything, for the sake of Kramdel's future, that human had to be removed by her own hand, right here. If not now — while he had lost all his power — there would never be another chance. If not now, while he was unconscious, it would be forever impossible.

But then—

"You will have to die."

A sharp binding snapped into place. Aria could not move a muscle. She turned her head, and there stood the woman who had already clashed with Randolph once before… Isabella.

Her eyes…!

Aria flinched at the sight of them. Those were the eyes of someone who had already decided on a kill — eyes as deep and dark as an abyss. She intended to erase the one who had seen Randolph's true form.

Aria drew a deep breath. This binding had immobilized even Fifth Lord Randolph. There was no chance she could throw it off.

"…I have no intention of telling anyone about the Fifth Lord."

"No."

Isabella shook her head. The contaminated barbarians had all collapsed unconscious, but this half-human, half-beast had clearly seen Randolph's true nature. A fusion of human and beast, yet not human. And if she was not human and still called Randolph the Fifth Lord, she had almost certainly come from Kramdel.

Isabella spoke.

"Even if you say nothing, the White King will find out eventually."

As long as Aria remained in Kramdel, the White King would sense the strange undercurrent. His perception transcended all things. The White King must never learn that the Fifth Lord was human. And all of this, in the end, had happened because of her.

So Isabella made her decision. Aria would die here.

A second layer of binding snapped tight. There was no need to go as far as five. All she had to do was draw the blade across her throat and be done with it. Isabella picked up a sword one of the barbarians had dropped.

…Words won't reach her.

Aria half-gave up. She knew well enough that someone with eyes like those would not listen to anything she said.

Isabella closed the last of the distance and leveled the sword. And in the instant she was about to bring it down—

"Stop."

Isabella froze. She turned toward the voice behind her.

"Ah!"

Randolph. He was awake.

In the same breath, Isabella's mind snapped fully clear.

"A-are you all right?!"

She flung the sword to the ground without a second thought and shot toward Randolph like an arrow.

…I finally came to.

I had come within a hair of sleeping forever. Digesting the Blood Demon King had been that difficult. But it was fine. I had finished the digestion, and the Blood Demon King had become a Hidden Trait.

The fifteenth Hidden Trait.

I had started with thirteen. Now, with Eternal Randolph and the King of the Blood Demon Clan added, I had fifteen. Honestly, I was half in disbelief. I had never once expected the digested Blood Demon King to turn into a Hidden Trait.

What kind of function does it have?

That, too, I couldn't know yet. Every Hidden Trait refused to reveal its function until you experienced it and collided with it directly. But one thing was certain: anything bearing the name "Hidden Trait" would be extraordinarily useful. There was not a single useless Hidden Trait in existence.

"Is your body well? Can you move? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Isabella pressed in so close it was almost overwhelming, fretting over every detail. But my attention wasn't on her. I was looking past her, at the new lines of text that had risen into view.

The Main Quest settlement had just finished. I expected a high score, of course, but I had no way of knowing the exact number. Combined with the previous settlement — did that mean it was being added to the elimination of Baal?

"…!!!"