Ruin
Raiga focused every shred of his consciousness.
The situation defied comprehension, yet fragments of memory still flickered at the edges of his mind. No matter how thoroughly he had been ambushed and brought down, a powerhouse of Raiga's caliber would never fully surrender his awareness — not unless his breath had been cut off entirely and death had claimed him.
Even with his eyes closed, he could see. He could feel. Absolute sixth sense — that was what Raiga possessed.
The goat… it came out of the cave. I'm certain of it.
He reassembled the shattered memories piece by piece, gathering every scattered fragment that had been torn apart and flung to the winds. And when at last the puzzle was complete—
…Insane.
Raiga's body gave an involuntary shudder. Nothing that had followed the goat's emergence from the cave had been remotely normal.
What the hell is that thing?
Recalling those moments, Raiga fixed his gaze on the goat.
KRAAAAAAANG!
A detonation of sound that threatened to rupture eardrums. And in its wake, a colossal monster took form.
"…!!!"
"…"
The moment Baal of the Four Calamities appeared, I felt the weight of countless stares. Bearing the gazes of so many powerhouses at once, I slowly kicked off the ground and vaulted upward — naturally, without a flicker of panic, as though this had always been the plan.
Too big.
The problem was that Baal's body was simply too massive to ride as it was.
Ssssshhh—
As if sensing my inconvenience, Baal exhaled smoke from its entire frame and shrank. It was still enormous, of course — but it had reduced itself from mountain-scale to something closer to a dump truck.
A phenomenon that had never existed before.
Must be related to the evolution of my Hidden Traits.
The fusion and evolution of Hidden Traits. And Molting. The changes wrought by leaping two stages in a single bound had been dramatic — and this, it seemed, was one of them. Baal was resizing itself of its own accord, exactly as I intended. My related Dominion had apparently ballooned to abnormal levels.
"…Baal."
At the same time, the Sunken Emperor spoke. As expected, the rulers of the Abyss had recognized Baal's true identity at a glance — not some mere summon, but the genuine article.
"Are you… Baal's master?"
He was curious about me as well — the one who had summoned Baal and climbed onto its back as though it were a mount. And the question of whether I was Baal's master carried layers of meaning.
The great houses of the old empire that once commanded the Four Calamities. But they had failed to fully control Baal and the others; they had never truly been masters. So this was not a question of whether I was some heir to those bloodlines.
What the Sunken Emperor was asking now was whether I was Baal's master — in other words, whether I was Ruin.
He doesn't recognize me?
I had already identified the man astride the azure flame-steed as the Sunken Emperor. If I could recognize him, he should have recognized me in turn. And yet his demeanor was utterly different from the clone I had spent a day with. The old man I had rescued from the Heavenly Demon and this true body felt like entirely separate beings.
My transformation must have altered how they perceive me.
I nodded inwardly. Eternal Monarch Randolph. The Iron-Blood Monarch's Heart had evolved, the Eternal Monarch's Heart had transcended, and at last my name was complete. That trait — which had once coldly surveyed its surroundings and casually ignored a single rule at random — now planted a fierce wariness even in the rulers of the Abyss. If they could mistake me for Ruin itself, that said everything.
So I didn't particularly mind going unrecognized. Right now, answering his question took priority.
Baal's master, was I?
"No."
I was not Baal's master.
"…"
For the first time, a glint of interest flickered in the Sunken Emperor's eyes. The other rulers stirred as well. Someone who was not Baal's master, riding Baal? No matter how you looked at it, the situation was anything but normal.
Instead, I smiled faintly and continued.
"Did I not already say? A 'decent mount.' I do not regard this as my possession."
I patted Baal's head as though it were some stray mutt that had wandered past. If I truly were Ruin, this was how I would answer.
The Four Calamities were known as Ruin's possessions. And yet Ruin had unleashed them upon the continent. Had it intended for the empire to destroy itself through the Four Calamities?
Ruin has no concept of ownership.
No. It had simply left them. Ruin was the destroyer of all things. To own something was to cherish it. But Ruin cherished nothing. Because it held nothing dear, it could annihilate the world without hesitation. Therefore, it owned nothing. True non-possession, in the purest sense. The Four Calamities were no different.
"…"
He gave no reply. Instead, the Sunken Emperor turned his mount. The other rulers of the Abyss did the same. Slowly, they receded into the distance. There would be no further battle. With a single sentence, I had driven back every ruler of the Abyss.
Goooooh—
All of them — save one. The ancient golem, the Owner of the Tomb.
Blue hair. Blue eyes. A woman with a long ivory horn rising from her forehead.
Tap. Tap.
Ssssshhhhh—
With every step she took, everything her body touched was stripped of moisture and withered away. Grass, trees — all of it dried and crumbled to dust in an instant.
"Whale of the Celestial Axis. I never expected you to take an interest in this 'island.'"
Crack!
Crrrack!
A man appeared as though rising from empty air — the Multiplier of the Storm, who drove a chariot forged of thunder.
"I was under the impression you disliked taking that 'form.' Or do you intend to turn the entire island into a wasteland?"
"…"
"I wasn't expecting an answer. I already know words don't reach you."
The Multiplier of the Storm shrugged. The Whale of the Celestial Axis — an Absolute who never left her own domain. Intruders never returned alive, and her entire territory was said to be ocean. And yet that impossibly vast whale had transformed into something resembling a human.
So the rumors were true. In whale form she is the reaper of the seas; in human form, the reaper of the land.
In the distant past, when the Whale of the Celestial Axis shattered the world's axis, there had even been rumors of a third form — a fusion of both. But rumors were all they had ever been. For nearly several thousand years, the Whale of the Celestial Axis had never shown herself outside her domain.
Of course he was curious. And it was also proof that this "island" held value enough to draw even her covetous eye.
"At first I thought the Skin Hybrid of God might have laid some kind of trap, so I went around erasing every last starlight. But I've changed my mind. Whale of the Celestial Axis — will you take my hand?"
"…"
No answer. Conversation was impossible. But the intent would have been conveyed well enough.
The Multiplier of the Storm spoke again.
"Don't you want to win? Or at the very least — don't you want to kill the Four Calamities?"
Tap!
The Whale of the Celestial Axis stopped. Then, still expressionless, she looked at the Multiplier of the Storm.
As expected — she reacts to talk of the Four Calamities.
The appearance of Baal of the Four Calamities. Faced with that sudden emergence, they had been forced to take a step back — more precisely, because of Baal and the Dreadful Omen that rode it.
…Is it truly Ruin?
Honestly, he was half-convinced at best. But if it were Ruin, riding Baal would be entirely possible. The Four Calamities, once called the old masters of the Abyss, could be treated like pets. And the way Baal had shrunk itself of its own will — that was a clear sign of submission.
But it wasn't just Baal. There was something more unsettling than that. Just like the real Ruin…
They had not withdrawn because of Baal alone. The wrongness radiating from that being had exceeded all imagination. And then there was the attitude. The composure. Even the answer that he was not Baal's master had been perfect. Had he claimed to be Baal's master, the Multiplier of the Storm would have doubted him one more time. Ruin took no one in. At least, that was what the Multiplier of the Storm knew.
Everything pointed to that being being Ruin. So they had withdrawn for now. There was no harm in assessing the situation properly before charging in.
The Multiplier of the Storm addressed the Whale of the Celestial Axis once more.
"I will help you. If you become the master of this island, you will receive Ruin's favor."
"…"
"Ah. That look — wondering how I know."
The Multiplier of the Storm smiled. The Whale of the Celestial Axis. He knew a truth the world did not.
"The old masters of the Abyss. Known as the Four Calamities — but were they not, in truth, the Five Calamities? Whale of the Celestial Axis. Suitor of Ruin."
"…"
"Don't worry. I have no intention of spreading it around."
Four beasts that had appeared alongside Ruin's birth. But in truth, there had been five. The Whale of the Celestial Axis had simply not participated in that war — born later than the others.
The Multiplier of the Storm approached her slowly.
If I join hands with the Whale of the Celestial Axis, I can achieve my goal.
With her as an ally, victory was certain. She was the one who could hold back even the monster he himself found repulsive.
The only one who can keep the Unborn Being in check is the Whale of the Celestial Axis.
The Multiplier of the Storm knew full well that the Unborn Being had not appeared precisely because she was there. She who drained every last drop of life from the land was the perfect counter to that abomination.
"You don't intend to quietly yield your place to Baal, do you? Isn't that why you came to this 'island' — to refuse that concession?"
He drove the wedge home. He had wondered why the Whale of the Celestial Axis had come to God's Island, and now he understood. If that Dreadful Omen truly was Ruin, and if it was Ruin who had called Baal, then of course the Whale of the Celestial Axis would be here as well. The Four Calamities — no, the Five Calamities — were all rivals vying for Ruin.
The Multiplier of the Storm extended his hand.
"I have only one purpose: to kill the Skin Hybrid of God. Who claims this 'island' is of no concern to me — so I give it to you, Whale of the Celestial Axis."
The sun rose, and morning arrived in full.
Only after putting considerable distance between myself and the cave could I finally breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
No one seems to be following.
One opponent I could handle — but if a whole pack had come after me, escaping would not have been easy. Proof that my performance had landed properly. Of course, it hadn't been pure bluff. If they had charged, I was confident I could kill at least one of them. And now that morning had come, there was nothing left to fear.
They won't dare attack at night anymore.
I had planted wariness in them, steering everything toward a pure contest of starlight. That was far more advantageous for me.
The Night Spirits don't automatically rush in just because a fight breaks out, either.
Moreover, one of the Night Spirits had even helped me. No matter how I looked at it, something had protected me during the time I spent Molting. What exactly were the Night Spirits? Were they connected to this island — or to me?
In any case, having grasped these facts, the most dangerous period was still unquestionably the night. But if they mistook me for Ruin, they would never dare attack after dark. They would try to win through the contest of starlight instead.
So now…
At last, a moment of leisure. For the first time in a very long while, I decided to check how I had changed. I could already savor the transformation by feel alone — but humans were creatures who preferred to confirm things more precisely, in numbers. And the most objective window through which to measure my strength—
Status Window.
The moment the window rose and I confirmed the changes written upon it—
…This is actually insane.
I was left speechless.