Starlight, Eternal Randolph
“How dare you....”
The Heavenly Demon.
He who had been transferred to the Star's Prison was now free.
Once more he flowed back onto God's Island, and at once he began to scatter a dense killing intent through the air.
“How dare you take my Cheonmado...!”
A treasure beyond any price.
The divine weapon that only the cult leader of the Heavenly Mountain could ever possess—that was the Cheonmado.
And some stranger he had never even seen before had stolen it from him.
Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable.
KRRRUMBLE! KUKUKUKUNG!
Even the mere act of releasing his killing intent warped the surrounding terrain.
But by now he should be dead—or mad.
The Heavenly Demon forced the killing intent back down.
He could not afford to be transferred to the Star's Prison again without having accomplished a single thing.
If the bastard had taken the Cheonmado, he was already either dead or insane.
The Evil God sleeping inside the Cheonmado was no gentle presence.
Anyone other than a practitioner of Cheonma Shingong who so much as touched the saber would have their entire body swell and burst.
Or else they would become a raving murder-star and turn everything around them into a wasteland.
Even if they had mastered Cheonma Shingong, they would still have to abandon their humanity.
Whatever the case, the one who took the Cheonmado would not remain intact.
There was no chance he could have gained anything from it.
Skin Hybrid of God... I still don't know what intention you had when you created this ritual.
The certain rite being performed on this island.
At first glance it looked like entertainment, yet it was a vast ceremony charged with purpose.
He had not gathered Starlight himself, but after suffering through it he understood.
Fine. If you want a victor, I will become that victor.
Only the final winner could claim everything.
And to do that, one had to gather Starlight.
While imprisoned in the Star's Prison the Heavenly Demon had managed to learn the rules.
He had also learned the identity of the one who had robbed him of his Cheonmado.
I will take everything you have, Dreadful Omen.
Nothing more than a Dreadful Omen.
He still did not know why a member of the long-extinct Omen clan had been cast down to the floor of the Abyss.
What was certain was that the creature would never escape the Cheonmado or the Heavenly Demon's own demonic nature.
Never.
The Evil God could not understand.
He was the black that dyed every color.
And yet this human would not be dyed.
There was only one possibility that made such a thing possible.
Only a black deeper than his own could remain undyed.
—I am pure evil itself!
But was such a thing even possible?
That this human was more evil than he?
More than one who had lived his entire life as pure evil?
He who had reigned as the absolute pinnacle of every wickedness from birth until death.
Then how many evil deeds must this human have committed to become a black even denser than his own!
—What... are you?
For a moment he considered whether the man might be another kind of Evil God, but no.
This creature was not an Evil God.
And yet, despite that, he possessed the densest black domain in existence.
Like one of those ultra-gravitational holes that occasionally formed in the cosmos.
A world of nothingness that swallowed everything.
—I cannot accept it. That you are more evil than I!
The purest evil.
That title had to belong to him alone.
His absolute domain—something only an Evil God could possess—had been invaded.
Then there was only one method left.
—I have changed my mind. Die.
Kill him and take what was his.
This place was his space, after all.
All creation, every form and phenomenon, lay within his grasp.
Here the man could never defeat him.
A single word charged with will was enough.
Thud!
At once the spirit faded.
Before long the vitality of the flesh would vanish as well.
The price for invading his domain was death and death alone.
—Tch. It would have been better if you had simply accepted it.
Still, a faint regret lingered.
This human's material had been truly outstanding.
He could not accept that the man possessed greater evil than himself, yet the talent was undeniable.
The Evil God revealed himself from the darkness.
Then he slowly examined Randolph's body and marveled.
—Not even the successive Heavenly Demons once called Unparalleled for a Thousand Years can compare.
The ten million disciples of the Heavenly Mountain who had sought to inherit the Evil God's teachings.
Only the martial prodigies carefully selected from among them were allowed to challenge the Cheonmado.
Across hundreds and thousands of years, peerless talents had inevitably appeared.
Yet they could not compare.
Even those prodigies once praised as geniuses among geniuses were nothing more than a drop in the ocean beside this body.
Unparalleled for Ten Thousand Years.
No—beyond even that?
—The essence is human. To reach this level without yet abandoning humanity...
The Evil God instantly pierced Randolph's identity.
Many natures had been layered over the surface, yet the essence remained human.
This creature had not yet discarded his humanity.
Well, with talent of this caliber, there would have been no need to discard it.
How much stronger he would become if he did abandon humanity was beyond imagination.
—Had he abandoned humanity he could have perfected Cheonma Shingong...
Aside from the Evil God himself, not a single Heavenly Demon in history had ever perfected Cheonma Shingong.
The current Heavenly Demon had come closest, yet perfection still lay far away.
But with this one's talent it looked entirely possible.
If that talent could be transferred to the current Heavenly Demon... his seal would be completely undone.
He would finally escape the Cheonmado that imprisoned him!
—I will have to use the Great Law.
Absorb the talent and transfer it.
He would not be able to move the full ten-tenths, yet it would be enough.
The Great Law that devoured souls.
The Evil God reached his hand toward Randolph's heart.
And the instant his fingers touched it—
“...Finally. Contact.”
The human opened his eyes.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The heart that had stopped began to pound madly.
The Evil God's face twisted.
—He was clearly dead...?
The heart had stopped.
The soul had faded as well.
All of it had been an act?
Even if it was an act, why?
Why take the risk of feigning death?
The Evil God soon understood the reason.
—You... you... this...?!
...He had been wrong from the very beginning.
The many natures layered over the surface.
He had thought they were there to hide the human essence, but that was not so.
Even that had been nothing more than a screen.
The moment he touched the heart, the Evil God finally grasped the human's true identity in full.
Because the countless eyes engraved upon the heart were staring straight at him.
It began with the Dreadful Omen.
Then the one who kindled darkness appeared, and next the Four Calamities' Baal burst forth.
—Far too much for a mere human to contain. Excessive. What... what are you?
And that was not the end.
A fragment of Ruin, and even the soul of Despair!
They kept pouring out without end.
Moving as though alive, every one of them fixed their gaze upon the Evil God.
Each an evil that had reached its absolute extreme.
Moreover they were bound together like a single organism—one, yet not one.
Combined, they had become a “supreme pure evil” that surpassed even him.
A mere human had woven these things together?
Impossible.
Such a thing could not be.
“Why do you think it's impossible?”
Their eyes met.
The Evil God flinched.
What was projected from the human.
It was not Randolph.
Beyond him, another presence that moved this body could be felt.
—An “existence that cannot exist”....
An existence that could never exist.
Something that could not appear in this world, and must never appear!
—Demon of Greed...!
You have selected ‘Dreadful Omen’.
The Starlight possessed by ‘Dreadful Omen’ has been set.
During morning hours, Attack Power 76 and HP 70 are applied.
Duel record of ‘Dreadful Omen’: 2 Wins · 0 Losses · 0 Draws.
A Night Spirit had to imitate another participant throughout the morning.
And so the one Isabella chose was, of course, the Dreadful Omen—Randolph.
If it was Randolph, he would already be racing far out in the lead.
While the sun is up I have to transfer as many challengers as possible to the prison.
But she must never meet Randolph himself.
The instant she did, her false identity would be exposed, and in that moment Isabella would vanish.
Therefore she had to be careful.
She had to predict where Randolph was and what he was doing right now, then move accordingly.
...Already two wins. As expected of Lord Randolph.
It seemed she could learn not only the appearance but even information like this.
Isabella wore a smile as warm as a spring breeze.
Just as she had expected, Randolph had clearly grasped the core of the game.
In a single day, two victories without a single defeat.
He had not lost anything precious.
Moreover, the information granted to a Night Spirit was even richer.
The highest-grade Starlight obtainable only at night. The fact that he holds the Starlight of the Unique Emperor means he never stopped moving even through the night.
After securing two wins, Randolph had faced one night and even claimed the Unique Emperor's Starlight.
Which meant that now, with morning arrived, he was most likely somewhere catching his breath and organizing what he had gained.
Isabella knew Randolph well.
He had already finished setting ordinary Starlights and had fought duels, so there was no need to fear pursuit by Night Spirits; he would not wander about in the morning.
He would gather the highest-grade Starlights more thoroughly, then strike all at once.
When tomorrow came and she transformed into the Dreadful Omen once more, the picture would become even clearer.
Then what Isabella had to do was simple and clear.
The Unborn Existence. I must eliminate that thing myself.
...She had to erase that monstrous abomination.
She felt it instinctively.
That monster existed solely to advance and to win.
It was nothing more than a creature thrashing to be born after devouring everything.
At the same time—
I have to find Lord Randolph's Starlights for him.
The map upon which Starlights were engraved.
There the Starlights glittered and shone.
Of course a Night Spirit could not possess Starlight.
She could only imitate the Starlight the transformed target had already set.
Yet she could still guide the true owner of a Starlight toward it.
They said I would vanish if my identity was exposed—they never said I couldn't communicate.
All she needed was to leave a mark only Randolph would recognize.
And until night fell she would block any other invaders who approached that Starlight.
That was the path by which she could aid Randolph.
Having made up her mind, Isabella examined the map and set out to locate Randolph's Starlights.
“Ah...!”
And so, in the very center of the island, she found one star.
◈ A Night Spirit cannot hold a new Starlight.
She had found it.
Isabella swallowed hard.
The most powerful Starlight that symbolized Randolph!
Yet she had only found it so far.
She still had to protect it from countless challengers until night fell.
No other challenger must learn the name of this Starlight.
Moreover she had to ensure that Randolph himself could claim it.
She did not know where Randolph was at present, but it would be best if he could recognize it at a glance the moment he came near.
And so, as Isabella approached the Starlight and pondered how best to leave a mark—
Examining the memories held by the Starlight ‘Eternal Randolph’.
At once the memories engraved upon the Starlight began to flow.
They painted themselves inside her mind, then unfolded before her eyes with vivid reality.
And Isabella's expression grew steadily darker as the memories progressed.
When at last she had examined every memory sealed within the Starlight—
“...Ah.”
Isabella staggered.
Her eyelids trembled violently; her pupils dilated to their utmost limit.
Her face turned paper-white.
...As though she had seen something she must never, under any circumstances, have seen.